deadwood

noun

• Coarse woody debris.
• People or things judged to be superfluous to an organization or project.
• Money not realized by exiting a winning pump trade too early.
• Pins that have fallen and have not been cleared from the alley.
• Vertical planks between the keel and the sternpost that act as reinforcement.
• (by extension) Structural material on a load-carrying vehicle that reduces the available cargo space.
• (rummy) Cards in a hand that do not contribute to sets and which are usually counted as points against the player holding the hand.
• Cards that have been discarded.