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cast

[kast, kahst]
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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 (hair, 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 bestow; confer: 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.
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verb (used without object), cast, cast·ing.
  1. to throw.
  2. to receive form in a mold.
  3. to calculate or add.
  4. to conjecture; forecast.
  5. (of hounds) to search an area for scent: The setter cast, but found no scent.
  6. to warp, as timber.
  7. Nautical. (of a vessel) to turn, especially to get the head away from the wind; tack.
  8. to select the actors for a play, motion picture, or the like.
  9. Obsolete.
    1. to consider.
    2. to plan or scheme.
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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; appearance.
  16. sort; kind; style.
  17. tendency; inclination.
  18. a permanent twist or turn: to have a cast in one's eye.
  19. a warp.
  20. a slight tinge of some color; hue; shade: A good diamond does not have a yellowish cast.
  21. a dash or trace; a small amount.
  22. computation; calculation; addition.
  23. a conjecture; forecast.
  24. 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.
  25. Ornithology. pellet(def 6).
  26. Falconry. a pair of hawks put in flight together.
  27. Pathology. effused plastic matter produced in the hollow parts of various diseased organs.
  28. low-grade, irregular wool.
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adjective
  1. (of an animal, especially a horse) lying in such a position that it is unable to return to its feet without assistance.
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Verb Phrases
  1. cast about,
    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.
  2. cast away,
    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.
  3. cast back, to refer to something past; revert to: The composer casts back to his earlier work.
  4. cast down, to lower; humble.
  5. cast off,
    1. to discard; reject.
    2. to let go or let loose, as a vessel from a mooring.
    3. Printing.to determine the quantity of type or space that a given amount of text will occupy when set.
    4. Textiles.to make (the final stitches) in completing a knitted fabric.
    5. to throw (a falcon) off from the fist to pursue game.
  6. cast on, Textiles. to set (yarn) on a needle in order to form the initial stitches in knitting.
  7. cast out, to force out; expel; eject.
  8. cast up,
    1. to add up; compute.
    2. to vomit; eject.
    3. Chiefly Scot.to turn up; appear.
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Idioms
  1. at a single cast, through a single action or event: He bankrupted himself at a single cast.
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Origin of cast

1175–1225; Middle English casten < Old Norse kasta to throw
Related formscast·a·ble, adjectivecast·a·bil·i·ty, nounsub·cast, nounun·cast, adjectivewell-cast, adjective
Can be confusedcast caste class

Synonyms

See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.com
1. See throw. 55. See turn.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

huntlookscanexploreinspectinvestigateransackprobesiftscoutscourscrutinizecombseekcheckexaminepursuefollowwallowflop
British Dictionary definitions for cast about

cast about

cast around

verb
  1. (intr, adverb) to make a mental or visual searchto cast about for an idea for a book
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cast

verb casts, casting or cast (mainly tr)
  1. to throw or expel with violence or force
  2. to throw off or awayshe cast her clothes to the ground
  3. to reject or dismisshe cast the idea from his mind
  4. to shed or dropthe snake cast its skin; the horse cast a shoe; the ship cast anchor
  5. be cast NZ (of a sheep) to have fallen and been unable to rise
  6. to cause to appearto 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 mannerhe 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
  15. (also intr often foll by up) to compute (figures or a total)
  16. to predictthe old woman cast my fortune
  17. 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,
  18. to contrive (esp in the phrase cast a spell)
  19. to formulatehe cast his work in the form of a chart
  20. (also intr) to twist or cause to twist
  21. (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
  22. hunting to direct (a pack of hounds) over (ground) where their quarry may recently have passed
  23. (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
  24. falconry to hold the body of a hawk between the hands so as to perform some operation upon it
  25. printing to stereotype or electrotype
  26. cast in one's lot with or throw in one's lot with to share in the activities or fortunes of (someone else)
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noun
  1. the act of casting or throwing
    1. Also called: castingsomething that is shed, dropped, or egested, such as the coil of earth left by an earthworm
    2. another name for pellet (def. 4)
  3. an object that is thrown
  4. the distance an object is or may be thrown
    1. a throw at dice
    2. the resulting number shown
  6. angling
    1. a trace with a fly or flies attached
    2. the act or an instance of casting
  7. 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
  10. form or appearance
  11. sort, kind, or style
  12. a fixed twist or defect, esp in the eye
  13. a distortion of shape
  14. surgery a rigid encircling casing, often made of plaster of Paris, for immobilizing broken bones while they heal
  15. pathol a mass of fatty, waxy, cellular, or other material formed in a diseased body cavity, passage, etc
  16. the act of casting a pack of hounds
  17. falconry a pair of falcons working in combination to pursue the same quarry
  18. archery the speed imparted to an arrow by a particular bow
  19. a slight tinge or trace, as of colour
  20. a computation or calculation
  21. a forecast or conjecture
  22. fortune or a stroke of fate
  23. 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
  24. palaeontol a sedimentary structure representing the infilling of a mark or depression in a soft layer of sediment (or bed)
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See also cast about, castaway, cast back, cast down, cast-off, cast on, cast out, cast up

Word Origin

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

Word Origin and History for cast about

cast

n.

mid-13c., "a throw, an act of throwing," from cast (v.). In early use especially of dice, hence figurative uses relating to fortune or fate. Meaning "that which is cast" is from c.1550s. Meaning "dash or shade of color" is from c.1600. The sense of "a throw" carried an idea of "the form the thing takes after it has been thrown," which led to widespread and varied meanings, such as "group of actors in a play" (1630s). OED finds 42 distinct noun meaning and 83 verbal ones, with many sub-definitions. Many of the figurative senses converged in a general meaning "sort, kind, style" (mid-17c.). A cast in the eye (early 14c.) preserves the older verbal sense of "warp, turn."

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cast

v.

c.1200, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse kasta "to throw" (cf. Swedish kasta, Danish kaste, North Frisian kastin), of uncertain origin. Meaning "to form in a mold" is late 15c. In the sense of "warp, turn" it replaced Old English weorpan (see warp (v.)), and itself largely has been superseded now by throw, though cast still is used of fishing lines and glances.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
cast about in Medicine

cast

(kăst)
n.
  1. An object formed by the solidification of molten liquid poured into an impression or mold, as in a dental cast of the maxillary or mandibular arch.
  2. A rigid dressing, usually made of gauze and plaster of Paris, used to immobilize an injured, fractured, or dislocated body part, as in a fracture or dislocation.plaster cast
  3. A mass of fibrous material, coagulated protein, or exudate that has taken the form of the cavity in which it has been molded, such as the bronchial, renal, intestinal, or vaginal cavity, and that is found histologically as well as in urine or sputum samples.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.

Idioms and Phrases with cast about

cast about

1

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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2

Devise means, contrive, as in They cast about for new ways to increase revenue. This usage was first recorded in 1867.

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