on the scrapheap
- idiom
:
en el desecho
- She worried about being on the scrapheap after retirement, feeling as if she had lost her value.
Examples
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Many once-promising products end up on the scrapheap when companies prioritize newer technology.
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You know, And there I was essentially felt like I was on the scrapheap of life and not really knowing what to do next.
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After losing his job, he felt like he was on the scrapheap and struggled to find his purpose again.
Synonyms
93
5.8
No longer used or made because something newer replaces it
1
4.5
Something that is empty or abandoned and no longer works
No longer wanted and thrown away
Not wanted and often given away
No longer made or offered
Antonyms
How Valued
Surface Forms
Morphology
on + the + scrapheap
The phrase literally combines 'on' (location) with 'scrap' (discarded material) + 'heap' (pile), so a learner who knows the constituents can infer a metaphorical sense of being placed on a pile of rubbish — i.e. discarded or obsolete. This image-to-meaning mapping is common across languages and follows a straightforward compositional pattern, making the expression readily understandable to B1 learners.
Etymology
The phrase on the scrapheap comes from the image of a pile of old, broken things and pieces of metal called a scrapheap, where useless items are thrown away. That's why being on the scrapheap means 'no longer wanted' or 'thrown away', like jobs or ideas people see as useless.