cast about
Britishverb
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Also, cast around . Seek, make a search, as in We cast about for the necessary tools, but couldn't find them in the garage . [Late 1600s]
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Devise means, contrive, as in They cast about for new ways to increase revenue . This usage was first recorded in 1867.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In the vacuum created by Swalwell’s collapse, his Democratic rivals frenetically cast about for momentum.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2026
The colonists cast about for another means of ensuring that these judges would be independent, sensitive to local interests, and not entirely beholden to the king.
From Slate ● Feb. 26, 2025
Stokes is the headliner of all-star ensemble cast about to tell a story overflowing with subplots.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2023
These days, Lacey divides her time between Brooklyn and Mexico City — during the pandemic, she left a relationship, sold her home and cast about before alighting in Mexico City, almost on a whim.
From New York Times ● Mar. 18, 2023
Mia smiled and reached for a bottle of Windex and said nothing, and Mr. Richardson cast about for something else to say.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
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.
