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View synonyms for cast

cast

[ kast, kahst ]

verb (used with object)

, cast, cast·ing.
  1. to throw or hurl; fling:

    The gambler cast the dice.

  2. to throw off or away:

    He cast the advertisement in the wastebasket.

  3. to direct (the eye, a glance, etc.), especially in a cursory manner:

    She cast her eyes down the page.

  4. to cause to fall upon something or in a certain direction; send forth:

    to cast a soft light;

    to cast a spell;

    to cast doubts.

  5. to draw (lots), as in telling fortunes.
  6. Angling.
    1. to throw out (a fishing line, net, bait, etc.):

      The fisherman cast his line.

    2. to fish in (a stream, an area, etc.):

      He has often cast this brook.

  7. to throw down or bring to the ground:

    She cast herself on the sofa.

  8. to part with; lose:

    The horse cast a shoe.

  9. to shed or drop (skin, antlers, fruit, etc.):

    The snake cast its skin.

  10. (of an animal) to bring forth (young), especially abortively.
  11. to send off (a swarm), as bees do.
  12. to throw or set aside; discard or reject; dismiss:

    He cast the problem from his mind.

  13. to throw forth, as from within; emit or eject; vomit.
  14. to throw up (earth, sod, etc.), as with a shovel.
  15. to put or place, especially hastily or forcibly:

    to cast someone in prison.

  16. to deposit or give (a ballot or vote).
  17. to cast blessings upon someone.

  18. to make suitable or accordant; tailor:

    He cast his remarks to fit the occasion.

  19. Theater.
    1. to select actors for (a play, motion picture, or the like).
    2. to allot a role to (an actor).
    3. to assign an actor to (a role).
  20. to form (an object) by pouring metal, plaster, etc., in a fluid state into a mold and letting it harden.
  21. to form (metal, plaster, etc.) into a particular shape by pouring it into a mold in a fluid state and letting it harden.
  22. to tap (a blast furnace).
  23. to compute or calculate; add, as a column of figures.
  24. to compute or calculate (a horoscope) astrologically; forecast.
  25. to turn or twist; warp.
  26. Nautical. to turn the head of (a vessel), especially away from the wind in getting under way.
  27. Fox Hunting. (of a hunter) to lead or direct (hounds) over ground believed to have been recently traveled by a fox.
  28. Archaic. to contrive, devise, or plan.
  29. Obsolete. to ponder.


verb (used without object)

, cast, cast·ing.
  1. to throw.
  2. to receive form in a mold.
  3. to calculate or add.
  4. (of hounds) to search an area for scent:

    The setter cast, but found no scent.

  5. to warp, as timber.
  6. Nautical. (of a vessel) to turn, especially to get the head away from the wind; tack.
  7. to select the actors for a play, motion picture, or the like.
  8. Obsolete.
    1. to consider.
    2. to plan or scheme.

noun

  1. act of casting or throwing.
  2. that which is thrown.
  3. the distance to which a thing may be cast or thrown.
  4. Games.
    1. a throw of dice.
    2. the number rolled.
  5. Angling.
    1. act of throwing a line or net onto the water.
    2. a spot for casting a fishing line; a fishing place.
  6. Theater. the group of performers to whom parts are assigned; players.
  7. Hunting. a searching of an area for a scent by hounds.
  8. a stroke of fortune; fortune or lot.
  9. a ride offered on one's way; lift.
  10. the form in which something is made or written; arrangement.
  11. Metallurgy.
    1. act of casting or founding.
    2. the quantity of metal cast at one time.
  12. something formed from a material poured into a mold in a molten or liquid state; casting.
  13. an impression or mold made from something.
  14. Medicine/Medical. a rigid surgical dressing, usually made of bandage treated with plaster of Paris.
  15. outward form; shape; appearance.
  16. (of people) distinctive sort, type, or character; mold; stamp:

    The bars were teeming with twenty-somethings of the trust-fund hipster cast. He modeled himself after the cast of his piano teacher, who was an exemplar of self-discipline.

  17. a permanent twist or turn:

    to have a cast in one's eye.

  18. a warp.
  19. a slight tinge of some color; hue; shade:

    A good diamond does not have a yellowish cast.

  20. a dash or trace; a small amount.
  21. Zoology. something that is shed, ejected, or cast off or out, as molted skin, a feather, food from a bird's crop, or the coil of sand and waste passed by certain earthworms.
  22. Ornithology. pellet ( def 6 ).
  23. Falconry. a pair of hawks put in flight together.
  24. Pathology. effused plastic matter produced in the hollow parts of various diseased organs.
  25. low-grade, irregular wool.

adjective

  1. (of an animal, especially a horse) lying in such a position that it is unable to return to its feet without assistance.

verb phrase

    1. to add up; compute.
    2. to vomit; eject.
    3. Chiefly Scot. to turn up; appear.
    1. to look, as to find something; search; seek:

      We cast about for something to do during the approaching summer vacation.

    2. to scheme; plan:

      He cast about how he could avoid work.

  1. to refer to something past; revert to:

    The composer casts back to his earlier work.

    1. Also cast aside. to reject; discard.
    2. to shipwreck.
    3. to throw away; squander:

      He will cast away this money just as he has done in the past.

  2. Knitting. to set (yarn) on a needle in order to form the initial stitches in knitting.
  3. to lower; humble.
  4. to force out; expel; eject.

cast

/ kɑːst /

verb

  1. to throw or expel with violence or force
  2. to throw off or away

    she cast her clothes to the ground

  3. to reject or dismiss

    he cast the idea from his mind

  4. to shed or drop

    the snake cast its skin

    the horse cast a shoe

    the ship cast anchor

  5. be cast
    (of a sheep) to have fallen and been unable to rise
  6. to cause to appear

    to cast a shadow

  7. to express (doubts, suspicions, etc) or cause (them) to be felt
  8. to direct (a glance, attention, etc)

    cast your eye over this

  9. to place, esp in a violent manner

    he was cast into prison

  10. also intr angling to throw (a line) into the water
  11. to draw or choose (lots)
  12. to give or deposit (a vote)
  13. to select (actors) to play parts in (a play, film, etc)
    1. to shape (molten metal, glass, etc) by pouring or pressing it into a mould
    2. to make (an object) by such a process
  14. also introften foll byup to compute (figures or a total)
  15. to predict

    the old woman cast my fortune

  16. astrology to draw on (a horoscope) details concerning the positions of the planets in the signs of the zodiac at a particular time for interpretation in terms of human characteristics, behaviour,
  17. to contrive (esp in the phrase cast a spell )
  18. to formulate

    he cast his work in the form of a chart

  19. also intr to twist or cause to twist
  20. also intr nautical to turn the head of (a sailing vessel) or (of a sailing vessel) to be turned away from the wind in getting under way
  21. hunting to direct (a pack of hounds) over (ground) where their quarry may recently have passed
  22. intr (of birds of prey) to eject from the crop and bill a pellet consisting of the indigestible parts of birds or animals previously eaten
  23. falconry to hold the body of a hawk between the hands so as to perform some operation upon it
  24. printing to stereotype or electrotype
  25. cast in one's lot with or throw in one's lot with
    to share in the activities or fortunes of (someone else)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. the act of casting or throwing
    1. Also calledcasting something that is shed, dropped, or egested, such as the coil of earth left by an earthworm
    2. another name for pellet
  2. an object that is thrown
  3. the distance an object is or may be thrown
    1. a throw at dice
    2. the resulting number shown
  4. angling
    1. a trace with a fly or flies attached
    2. the act or an instance of casting
  5. the wide sweep made by a sheepdog to get behind a flock of sheep or by a hunting dog in search of a scent
    1. the actors in a play collectively
    2. ( as modifier )

      a cast list

    1. an object made of metal, glass, etc, that has been shaped in a molten state by being poured or pressed into a mould
    2. the mould used to shape such an object
  6. form or appearance
  7. sort, kind, or style
  8. a fixed twist or defect, esp in the eye
  9. a distortion of shape
  10. surgery a rigid encircling casing, often made of plaster of Paris, for immobilizing broken bones while they heal
  11. pathol a mass of fatty, waxy, cellular, or other material formed in a diseased body cavity, passage, etc
  12. the act of casting a pack of hounds
  13. falconry a pair of falcons working in combination to pursue the same quarry
  14. archery the speed imparted to an arrow by a particular bow
  15. a slight tinge or trace, as of colour
  16. a computation or calculation
  17. a forecast or conjecture
  18. fortune or a stroke of fate
  19. palaeontol a replica of an organic object made of nonorganic material, esp a lump of sediment that indicates the internal or external surface of a shell or skeleton
  20. palaeontol a sedimentary structure representing the infilling of a mark or depression in a soft layer of sediment (or bed)
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • cast·a·ble adjective
  • cast·a·bil·i·ty [kast-, uh, -, bil, -i-tee], noun
  • sub·cast noun
  • un·cast adjective
  • well-cast adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cast1

First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta “to throw”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of cast1

C13: from Old Norse kasta
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Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. at a single cast, through a single action or event:

    He bankrupted himself at a single cast.

More idioms and phrases containing cast

  • die is cast
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Synonym Study

See throw. See turn.
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Example Sentences

Other works — such as Ursula von Rydingsvard’s wooden monoliths and Lynda Benglis’s waves cast in bronze — are large but not crushing.

I think that might cast you in a negative light or cause you to reveal some weakness or shortcoming.

Sia, after defending her decision to not cast an autistic actress for Ziegler’s role, promised through her since-deleted Twitter account to pull the restraint scenes and include a warning.

Even Pai’s technical tweaks threatened to cast a pall over the program.

When it came time to cast their ballots, more than 54 percent of South Dakota voters took to the polls in November in favor of a constitutional amendment to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

Obviously, not all the original cast can come back or even have the desire.

As the months passed and she began to cast the film, I became increasingly excited.

It cast this pall over the movie, which was one of my favorites of last year.

Preheat oven to 375°F. Heat the vegetable oil in a large, high-sided cast iron skillet.

He cast her as Hope, an ex-addict with an impressive pair of fake chompers—the result of years of drug abuse.

They are so rich in harmony, so weird, so wild, that when you hear them you are like a sea-weed cast upon the bosom of the ocean.

The motherly woman received the babe instinctively and cast aside the travelling-rug in which he was enveloped.

Now, the whole Northwest groaned beneath a cast-iron prohibition law at that time, and for some years thereafter.

Mrs. Newbolt was looking away toward the hills, a dreamy cast in her placid face.

He was cast down to think that he might have spared himself the trouble of donning his beautiful yellow doublet from Paris.

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Related Words

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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