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PlainSpell

discard

/dɪsˈkɑɹd/verb, noun

discard is spelled D-I-S-C-A-R-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, discard means “To throw away, to reject” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in discard?

Letters7: D-I-S-C-A-R-D
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.3 times per million words; the 17,813th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is discard?

Discard appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 17,813th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce discard?

  • UK /dɪsˈkɑːd/
  • UK /dɪˈskɑːd/
  • US /dɪsˈkɑɹd/

As a noun (“Anything discarded”): /ˈdɪskɑːd/, /ˈdɪskɑɹd/.

Discard has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-discard_(verb).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-discard_(noun).wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-discard.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with discard?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as discard from its last stressed vowel (/ɑɹd/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of discard

  • discards present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • discarding participle, present
  • discarded participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does discard mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    To throw away, to reject.

  2. 2

    To make a discard; to throw out a card.

  3. 3

    To dismiss from employment, confidence, or favour; to discharge.

noun

  1. 1

    Anything discarded.

  2. 2

    One or more discarded playing cards in a card game.

  3. 3

    The act of discarding.

  4. 4

    A temporary variable used to receive a value of no importance and unable to be read later.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Discard in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchrejeter, écarter (to throw away, reject), défausser (to throw out a playing card)
Germanverwerfen (to throw away, reject), abwerfen, ablegen (to throw out a playing card)
Portuguesedescartar (to throw away, reject)
Spanishdesechar, descartar (to throw away, reject)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does discard come from?

From dis- + card. Compare Spanish descartar.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after discard