different between throwaway vs castaway

English

Etymology

throw +? away.

Adjective

throwaway (not comparable)

1. Disposable; intended for a single use prior to being discarded.

   Water was provided in throwaway plastic bottles, but the more ecologically minded of us refilled our initial bottles from the fountain.
2. Extemporaneous; off the cuff.

3. Given in a casual manner, either deliberately or unconsciously, with apparent disregard for effect.
   • As the film opens, a martial-drum-dominated version of the "Star Wars" theme and the inevitable bottom-to-top print crawl inform us that the Clone Wars, a conflict that originated as a throwaway line in the original 1977 film... http://www.nysun.com/arts/star-wars-clone-wars-painted-in-the-stars/83922/
   • I was intrigued by the exchange in one of the opening scenes where the Warden says to Snake: "You flew the wing-five over Leningrad, didn't you?" It turns out to be just a throwaway line, but for a moment it worked like the best SF, where a casual reference can imply a lot. https://web.archive.org/web/20120125090151/http://project.cyberpunk.ru/idb/gibson_interview.html

Synonyms

• (being intended for a single use): single-use, disposable

Noun

throwaway (plural throwaways)

1. Something temporary and disposable.
   • 2016, Dr Eric Murphy Selinger, Dr William A Gleason, Romance Fiction and American Culture

     Some [of the essays] appeared originally in writer's^[sic] forums and bookstore throwaways, others in more academic contexts […]

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: k??stu?w? IPA^(key): /?kæ.st?.we?/

Adjective

castaway (not comparable)

1. Cast adrift or ashore; marooned.

   After the mutiny, the castaway ship's officers suffered a month at sea in the lifeboat.

2. Shipwrecked.

   The storm left them castaway on an uninhabited island.

3. Cast out; rejected or excluded from a group.

Noun

castaway (plural castaways)

1. (nautical) A shipwrecked sailor.

   Robinson Crusoe was a famous fictional castaway.

2. A discarded person or thing.

   This old coat was a castaway in someone's trash.

3. An outcast; someone cast out of a group or society.

   These homeless people are society's castaways.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:outcast

Related terms

• cast away

Translations