graveyard

Etymology

From grave + yard. Compare West Frisian begraafplak (“graveyard”), Dutch begraafplaats (“graveyard”), Norwegian gravplass (“graveyard”).

noun

1. A tract of land in which the dead are buried.
2. (figurative, by extension) A final storage place for collections of things that are no longer useful or useable.
   1. (collectible card games) The discard pile, in some trading card games.
      Certain cards place other cards here because such cards might have abilities deemed too strong if they sent them to the graveyard instead. 2006, John Kaufeld, Jeremy Smith, Trading Card Games For Dummies, page 49
      If you want to be tricky, though, Rapid Decay can be a flying elbow drop out of nowhere for a surprise win against graveyard manipulation decks; they will always see a Beetles coming, remember. 2006, Michael J. Flores, Deckade: 10 Years of Decks, Thoughts, and Theory!, page 235
      When a player does discard or use a card or when a creature also died or a spell gets destroyed, that card gets placed into the player's graveyard. 2015, Kinetik Gaming, Magic the Gathering Game Guide (Unofficial)
   2. (sports) A team where players are sent when they are not useful, or a team where players become useless if sent there.
3. (US, slang) Synonym of suicide (“beverage combining all available flavors at a soda fountain”)