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cast
[ kast, kahst ]
/ kæst, kɑst /
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verb (used with object), cast, cast·ing.
to throw or hurl; fling: The gambler cast the dice.
to throw off or away: He cast the advertisement in the wastebasket.
to direct (the eye, a glance, etc.), especially in a cursory manner: She cast her eyes down the page.
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.
to draw (lots), as in telling fortunes.
Angling.
- to throw out (a fishing line, net, bait, etc.): The fisherman cast his line.
- to fish in (a stream, an area, etc.): He has often cast this brook.
to throw down or bring to the ground: She cast herself on the sofa.
to part with; lose: The horse cast a shoe.
to shed or drop (skin, antlers, fruit, etc.): The snake cast its skin.
(of an animal) to bring forth (young), especially abortively.
to send off (a swarm), as bees do.
to throw or set aside; discard or reject; dismiss: He cast the problem from his mind.
to throw forth, as from within; emit or eject; vomit.
to throw up (earth, sod, etc.), as with a shovel.
to put or place, especially hastily or forcibly: to cast someone in prison.
to deposit or give (a ballot or vote).
to make suitable or accordant; tailor: He cast his remarks to fit the occasion.
Theater.
- to select actors for (a play, motion picture, or the like).
- to allot a role to (an actor).
- to assign an actor to (a role).
to form (an object) by pouring metal, plaster, etc., in a fluid state into a mold and letting it harden.
to form (metal, plaster, etc.) into a particular shape by pouring it into a mold in a fluid state and letting it harden.
to tap (a blast furnace).
to compute or calculate; add, as a column of figures.
to compute or calculate (a horoscope) astrologically; forecast.
to turn or twist; warp.
Nautical. to turn the head of (a vessel), especially away from the wind in getting under way.
Fox Hunting. (of a hunter) to lead or direct (hounds) over ground believed to have been recently traveled by a fox.
Archaic. to contrive, devise, or plan.
Obsolete. to ponder.
verb (used without object), cast, cast·ing.
to throw.
to receive form in a mold.
to calculate or add.
to conjecture; forecast.
(of hounds) to search an area for scent: The setter cast, but found no scent.
to warp, as timber.
Nautical. (of a vessel) to turn, especially to get the head away from the wind; tack.
to select the actors for a play, motion picture, or the like.
Obsolete.
- to consider.
- to plan or scheme.
noun
act of casting or throwing.
that which is thrown.
the distance to which a thing may be cast or thrown.
Games.
- a throw of dice.
- the number rolled.
Angling.
- act of throwing a line or net onto the water.
- a spot for casting a fishing line; a fishing place.
Theater. the group of performers to whom parts are assigned; players.
Hunting. a searching of an area for a scent by hounds.
a stroke of fortune; fortune or lot.
a ride offered on one's way; lift.
the form in which something is made or written; arrangement.
Metallurgy.
- act of casting or founding.
- the quantity of metal cast at one time.
something formed from a material poured into a mold in a molten or liquid state; casting.
an impression or mold made from something.
Medicine/Medical. a rigid surgical dressing, usually made of bandage treated with plaster of Paris.
outward form; shape; appearance.
(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.
a permanent twist or turn: to have a cast in one's eye.
a warp.
a dash or trace; a small amount.
Mathematics. computation; calculation; addition.
a prediction; forecast.
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.
Ornithology. pellet (def. 6).
Falconry. a pair of hawks put in flight together.
Pathology. effused plastic matter produced in the hollow parts of various diseased organs.
low-grade, irregular wool.
adjective
(of an animal, especially a horse) lying in such a position that it is unable to return to its feet without assistance.
Verb Phrases
cast about,
- to look, as to find something; search; seek: We cast about for something to do during the approaching summer vacation.
- to scheme; plan: He cast about how he could avoid work.
cast away,
- Also cast aside. to reject; discard.
- to shipwreck.
- to throw away; squander: He will cast away this money just as he has done in the past.
cast back, to refer to something past; revert to: The composer casts back to his earlier work.
cast down, to lower; humble.
cast off. See entry at castoff.
cast on, Knitting. to set (yarn) on a needle in order to form the initial stitches in knitting.
cast out, to force out; expel; eject.
cast up,
- to add up; compute.
- to vomit; eject.
- Chiefly Scot. to turn up; appear.
QUIZ
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Idioms about cast
at a single cast, through a single action or event: He bankrupted himself at a single cast.
Origin of cast
First recorded in 1175–1225; Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta “to throw”
OTHER WORDS FROM cast
cast·a·ble, adjectivecast·a·bil·i·ty [kast-uh-bil-i-tee], /ˌkæst əˈbɪl ɪ ti/, nounsub·cast, nounun·cast, adjective
well-cast, adjective
WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH cast
cast , casteWords nearby cast
Casson, cassone, cassoulet, cassowary, casspir, cast, castable, cast about, cast adrift, Castagno, Castalia
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use cast in a sentence
Other works — such as Ursula von Rydingsvard’s wooden monoliths and Lynda Benglis’s waves cast in bronze — are large but not crushing.
Sculpture parks are a great way to see art during a pandemic. Here’s why some are better than others.|Sebastian Smee|February 11, 2021|Washington PostI think that might cast you in a negative light or cause you to reveal some weakness or shortcoming.
Can I Ask You a Ridiculously Personal Question? (Ep. 451)|Stephen J. Dubner|February 11, 2021|FreakonomicsSia, 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.
Juiciest ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Rumors (and Some Debunked Ones)|Rich Goldstein|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEASTAs 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.
Coffee Talk with Ethan Hawke: On ‘Boyhood,’ Jennifer Lawrence, and Bill Clinton’s Urinal Exchange|Marlow Stern|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEASTPreheat 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.
Jena Malone’s Long, Strange Trip From Homelessness to Hollywood Stardom|Marlow Stern|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEASTThey 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.
Music-Study in Germany|Amy FayThe motherly woman received the babe instinctively and cast aside the travelling-rug in which he was enveloped.
The Joyous Adventures of Aristide Pujol|William J. LockeNow, the whole Northwest groaned beneath a cast-iron prohibition law at that time, and for some years thereafter.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. SinclairMrs. Newbolt was looking away toward the hills, a dreamy cast in her placid face.
The Bondboy|George W. (George Washington) OgdenHe was cast down to think that he might have spared himself the trouble of donning his beautiful yellow doublet from Paris.
St. Martin's Summer|Rafael Sabatini
British Dictionary definitions for cast
cast
/ (kɑːst) /
verb casts, casting or cast (mainly tr)
to throw or expel with violence or force
to throw off or awayshe cast her clothes to the ground
to reject or dismisshe cast the idea from his mind
to shed or dropthe snake cast its skin; the horse cast a shoe; the ship cast anchor
be cast NZ (of a sheep) to have fallen and been unable to rise
to cause to appearto cast a shadow
to express (doubts, suspicions, etc) or cause (them) to be felt
to direct (a glance, attention, etc)cast your eye over this
to place, esp in a violent mannerhe was cast into prison
(also intr) angling to throw (a line) into the water
to draw or choose (lots)
to give or deposit (a vote)
to select (actors) to play parts in (a play, film, etc)
- to shape (molten metal, glass, etc) by pouring or pressing it into a mould
- to make (an object) by such a process
(also intr often foll by up) to compute (figures or a total)
to predictthe old woman cast my fortune
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,
to contrive (esp in the phrase cast a spell)
to formulatehe cast his work in the form of a chart
(also intr) to twist or cause to twist
(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
hunting to direct (a pack of hounds) over (ground) where their quarry may recently have passed
(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
falconry to hold the body of a hawk between the hands so as to perform some operation upon it
printing to stereotype or electrotype
cast in one's lot with or throw in one's lot with to share in the activities or fortunes of (someone else)
noun
the act of casting or throwing
- Also called: casting something that is shed, dropped, or egested, such as the coil of earth left by an earthworm
- another name for pellet (def. 4)
an object that is thrown
the distance an object is or may be thrown
- a throw at dice
- the resulting number shown
angling
- a trace with a fly or flies attached
- the act or an instance of casting
the wide sweep made by a sheepdog to get behind a flock of sheep or by a hunting dog in search of a scent
- the actors in a play collectively
- (as modifier)a cast list
- an object made of metal, glass, etc, that has been shaped in a molten state by being poured or pressed into a mould
- the mould used to shape such an object
form or appearance
sort, kind, or style
a fixed twist or defect, esp in the eye
a distortion of shape
surgery a rigid encircling casing, often made of plaster of Paris, for immobilizing broken bones while they heal
pathol a mass of fatty, waxy, cellular, or other material formed in a diseased body cavity, passage, etc
the act of casting a pack of hounds
falconry a pair of falcons working in combination to pursue the same quarry
archery the speed imparted to an arrow by a particular bow
a slight tinge or trace, as of colour
a computation or calculation
a forecast or conjecture
fortune or a stroke of fate
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
palaeontol a sedimentary structure representing the infilling of a mark or depression in a soft layer of sediment (or bed)
Word Origin for cast
C13: from Old Norse kasta
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
Other Idioms and Phrases with cast
cast
In addition to the idioms beginning with cast
- cast about
- cast adrift
- cast away
- cast doubt on
- cast down
- cast in one's lot
- cast in stone
- cast in the same mold
- castles in the air
- cast loose
- cast off
- cast on
- cast one's lot with
- cast out
- cast pearls before swine
- cast the first stone
also see:
- die is cast
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.