cast off vs discard

cast off

verb
  • To discard or reject something. 

  • To let go (a cable or rope securing a vessel to a buoy, wharf, etc.) so that the vessel may make way. 

  • To finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them securely from the needle. 

  • To estimate the amount of space required by the type used for the given copy. 

discard

verb
  • To throw away, to reject. 

  • To make a discard; to throw out a card. 

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

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

  • Anything discarded. 

  • A discarded playing card in a card game. 

How often have the words cast off and discard occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )