Definition of "cast"

cast

/kɑːst/

verb
third-person singular simple present casts, present participle casting, simple past and past participle cast or (nonstandard) casted
1. (physical) To move, or be moved, away.
  1. (now somewhat literary) To throw.
    Quotations
    Why then a Ladder quaintly made of Cords / To cast vp, with a paire of anchoring hookes, / Would serue to scale another Hero's towre […].
    c. 1590–1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)
    The more, an' please your honour, the pity, said the Corporal; in uttering which, he cast his spade into the wheelbarrow […].
    1759–1767, [Laurence Sterne], The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, volumes (please specify |volume=I to IX), London: […] T. Becket and P. A. Dehondt, […], page 262
  2. To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea.
    Quotations
    As Jesus walked by the see off Galile, he sawe two brethren: Simon which was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, castynge a neet into the see (for they were fisshers) […].
    1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], Matthew iiij]
  3. To throw down or aside.
    Quotations
    So she to Guyon offred it to tast; / Who taking it out of her tender hond, / The cup to ground did violently cast, / That all in peeces it was broken fond […]
    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
    it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Matthew 6:30
    Near Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, Madman, co-pilot and plane were caught in a storm, cast into the Caribbean, drowned.
    1930 December 19, “Sidar the Madman”, in Time
    Her bow is not to her liking. In a temper, she casts it on the grass.
    2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, published 2010, page 316
  4. (of an animal) To throw off (the skin) as a process of growth; to shed the hair or fur of the coat.
  5. (obsolete except in set phrases) To remove, take off (clothes).
    Quotations
    when the serjeant saw me, he cast his coat and put it on me, and they carried me on their shoulders to a village where the wounded were and our surgeons […].
    1822, “Life of Donald McBane”, in Blackwood's Magazine, volume 12, page 745
    You know the saying, "Ne'er cast a clout till May is out"? Well, personally, I'm bored of my winter clothes by March.
    2002 March 2, Jess Cartner-Morley, “How to Wear Clothes”, in The Guardian
  6. (nautical) To heave the lead and line in order to ascertain the depth of water.
  7. (obsolete) To vomit.
    Quotations
    These verses […] make me ready to cast.
    1601, Ben Jonson, Poetaster or The Arraignment: […], London: […] [R. Bradock] for M[atthew] L[ownes] […], published 1602, Act I, scene i
  8. (archaic) To throw up, as a mound, or rampart.
    Quotations
    Thine enemies shall cast a trench [bank] about thee.
    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Luke 19:48
    Kenett states that the military works still known by the name of Tadmarten Camp and Hook-Norton Barrow were cast up at this time ; the former, large and round, is judged to be a fortification of the Danes, and the latter, being smaller and rather a quinquangle than a square, of the Saxons.
    1881, John Kirby Hedges, The history of Wallingford‎, volume 1, page 170
  9. (archaic) To throw out or emit; to exhale.
    Quotations
    This […] casts a sulphurous smell.
    1695 (first published), 1726 (final dated of publication) John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies
    This horned bird, as it casts a strong smell, so it hath a foul look, much exceeding the European Raven in bigness
    1849, Philip Henry Gosse, Natural History
2. To direct (one's eyes, gaze etc.).
  Quotations
  To whom do Lyons cast their gentle Lookes? Not to the Beast, that would vsurpe their Den.
  c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)
  She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement […].
  1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter 11, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume I, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […]
  But Richmond, his grandfather's darling, after one thoughtful glance cast under his lashes at that uncompromising countenance appeared to lose himself in his own reflections.
  1959, Georgette Heyer, chapter 1, in The Unknown Ajax
3. (dated outside accounting) To add up (a column of figures, accounts etc.); cross-cast refers to adding up a row of figures.
  Quotations
  To what this ten years' tribute will amount,That we have cast, but cannot compass itBy reason of the wars, that robb'd our store
  c. 1589–1590, Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Ievv of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published 1633, Act I, [scene iii]
  The Clearke of Chartam: hee can write and / reade, and cast accompt.
  1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, (please specify the act number in uppercase Roman numerals, and the scene number in lowercase Roman numerals)
  I cannot yet cast account either with penne or Counters.
  1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 17, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […]
  I cast up the notches on my post, and found I had been on shore three hundred and sixty-five days.
  1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], 3rd edition, London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], published 1719
  They cast it up and found it agreed with the printed balance-sheet.
  1859, David Morier Evans, “The Royal British Bank—Its Suspension and General Mismanagement”, in Facts, Failures and Frauds, London: Groombridge & Sons, page 337
  Obtain an aged list of accounts receivable balances at the financial year end and use CAATs to cast and cross-cast the schedule and agree the total to the general ledger control account for accounts receivable.
  2007, George Puttick, Sandy van Esch, “Auditing Revenue Transactions and Balances”, in The Principles and Practice of Auditing, page 637
  Obtain a list of individual customers with balances outstanding at the year end, cast this and agree it to the trade receivables account.
  2023, “Procedures”, in Audit and Assurance, Kaplan Financial Limited, page 354
4. (social) To predict, to decide, to plan.
  1. (astrology) To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.).
    Quotations
    he is […] a perfect astrologer, that can cast the rise and fall of others, and mark their errant motions to his own use.
    1624, Democritus Junior [pseudonym; Robert Burton], The Anatomy of Melancholy: […], 2nd edition, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Printed by John Lichfield and James Short, for Henry Cripps
    John Gadbury confessed that Mrs Cellier, ‘the Popish Midwife’, had asked him to cast the King's nativity, although the astrology claimed to have refused to do so.
    1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, published 2012, page 332
    He did the washing up and stayed behind to watch the dinner cook while she hopped off with a friend to have her horoscope cast by another friend.
    1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p.1197
  2. (obsolete) To plan, intend.
    Quotations
    [...] for the quene had cast to haue ben ageyne with kyng Arthur at the ferthest by ten of the clok / and soo was that tyme her purpoos.[...] "for the queen had cast to have been again with King Arthur at the furthest by ten of the clock, and so was that time her purpose."
    1485, Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur Book XIX, Chapter i leaf 386v
    I wrapt my selfe in Palmers weed, / And cast to seeke him forth through daunger and great dreed.
    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto I”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
    The cloister […] had, I doubt not, been cast for [an orange-house].
    1685, William Temple, "Upon the Gardens of Epicurus
  3. (transitive) To assign (a role in a play or performance).
  4. (transitive) To assign a role in a play or performance to (an actor).
  5. (transitive) To describe in an opinionated way. Mostly used with a metaphor involving light.
  6. To consider; to turn or revolve in the mind; to plan.
    Quotations
    She […] cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Luke 1:29
  7. (archaic) To impose; to bestow; to rest.
    Quotations
    The government I cast upon my brother.
    1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]
    Cast thy burden upon the Lord.
    1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Psalms 4:22
  8. (archaic) To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict.
    Quotations
    She was cast to be hanged.
    1822, John Galt, The Provost
    Were the case referred to any competent judge, […] they would inevitably be cast.
    1667, attributed to Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety. […], London: […] R. Norton for T. Garthwait, […]
  9. To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to make preponderate; to decide.
    Quotations
    How much interest casts the balance in cases dubious!
    24 July, 1659, Robert South, Interest Deposed, and Truth Restored
5. To perform, bring forth (a magical spell or enchantment).
  Quotations
  Sorcery is not the exclusive prerogative of the fetish-man, but is practised haphazardly by anyone who wishes to cast a spell upon another.
  1936, Rollo Ahmed, The Black Art, London: Long, page 178
6. To throw (light etc.) on or upon something, or in a given direction.
  Quotations
  The threat of Russian barbarism sweeping over the free world will cast its ominous shadow over us for many, many years.
  1950 April 24, “A Global View”, in Time
  A sudden thought cast a gloom over his countenance.
  1960, Lawrence Durrell, Clea
  The Poet and the PainterCasting shadows on the waterAs the sun plays on the infantryReturning from the sea.
  1972, “Thick As A Brick”, Ian Anderson (lyrics), performed by Jethro Tull
7. (archaic) To give birth to (a child) prematurely; to miscarry.
  Quotations
  being with childe, they may without feare of accusation, spoyle and cast [translating avorter] their children, with certaine medicaments, which they have only for that purpose.
  1603, Michel de Montaigne, translated by John Florio, The Essayes […], London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […]
  The abortion of a woman they describe by an horse kicking a wolf; because a mare will cast her foal if she tread in the track of that animal.
  1650, Thomas Browne, chapter V, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], 1st book, page 20
8. To shape (molten metal etc.) by pouring into a mould; to make (an object) in such a way.
  Quotations
  One copy of the magnificent caveman, The Thinker, of which Rodin cast several examples in bronze, is seated now in front of the Detroit Museum of Art, where it was placed last autumn.
  1923 March 24, “Rodin's Death”, in Time
  The practice of casting steel seems the most difficult of all the foundry arts, for despite every care, a percentage of the work is liable to be faulty and disappointing, but at Crewe, generally, a very good class of casting was turned out.
  1944 November and December, A Former Pupil, “Some Memories of Crewe Works—II”, in Railway Magazine, page 343
  1. (printing, dated) To stereotype or electrotype.
9. To twist or warp (of fabric, timber etc.).
  Quotations
  Stuff is said to cast or warp when […] it alters its flatness or straightness.
  c. 1680, Joseph Moxon, The Art of Joinery
10. (nautical) To bring the bows of a sailing ship on to the required tack just as the anchor is weighed by use of the headsail; to bring (a ship) round.
11. To deposit (a ballot or voting paper); to formally register (one's vote).
12. (computing) To change a variable type from, for example, integer to real, or integer to text.
13. (hunting) Of dogs, hunters: to spread out and search for a scent.
  Quotations
  He clambered on to an apron of rock that held its area out to the sun and began to cast across it. The direction of the wind changed and the scent touched him again.
  1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber, published 2005, page 50
14. (medicine) To set (a bone etc.) in a cast.
15. (Wicca) To open a circle in order to begin a spell or meeting of witches.
16. (media) To broadcast (video) over the Internet or a local network, especially to one's television.
noun
plural casts
1. An act of throwing.
2. (fishing) An instance of throwing out a fishing line.
  Quotations
  I went out on the timber boom and made a few casts, but with little success.
  1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 152
3. Something which has been thrown, dispersed etc.
  Quotations
  a cast of scatter'd dust
  1697, Virgil, “The Fourth Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […]
4. A small mass of earth "thrown off" or excreted by a worm.
5. The collective group of actors performing a play or production together. Contrasted with crew.
6. The casting procedure.
7. An object made in a mould.
8. A supportive and immobilising device used to help mend broken bones.
9. The mould used to make cast objects.
10. (hawking) The number of hawks (or occasionally other birds) cast off at one time; a pair.
  Quotations
  As when a cast of Faulcons make their flight / An an Herneshaw, that lyes aloft on wing […]
  1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie
  Louis XIV was keen, employing a total hawking personnel of 175 and adding a fourth cast of gyrfalcons to hunt hares in 1682 […] .
  2007, Tim Blanning, The Pursuit of Glory, Penguin, published 2013, page 395
11. A squint.
  Quotations
  The image of the affected eye is clearer and in consequence the diplopy more striking the less the cast of the eye; hence the double vision will be noticed by the patient before the misdirection of the eye attracts the attention of those about him.
  1847, John Churchill, A manual of the principles and practice of ophthalmic medicine and surgery, p. 389, paragraph 1968
  Arriving in Brittany, the Woodville exiles found a sallow young man, with dark hair curled in the shoulder-length fashion of the time and a penchant for expensively dyed black clothes, whose steady gaze was made more disconcerting by a cast in his left eye – such that while one eye looked at you, the other searched for you.
  2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 7
12. Visual appearance.
  Quotations
  Using a tungsten-balanced film outdoors results in a blue cast to the photo.
  2004, Betsy Brill, Photojournalism: The Professional's Approach‎, page 240
  He stared down at his champagne glass with narrowed eyes and a hard cast to his mouth.
  2007, Lindsay Armstrong, The Australian's Housekeeper Bride‎, page 78
13. The form of one's thoughts, mind etc.
  Quotations
  The cast of mind which prompted the plan was permanent, and in it are to be found both the strength and the weakness of Petty's character.
  1894, Wilson Lloyd Bevan, Sir William Petty : A Study in English Economic Literature, page 40
  Young Wilcox’s rejoinder, which impressed my uncle enough to make him recall and record it verbatim, was of a fantastically poetic cast which must have typified his whole conversation, and which I have since found highly characteristic of him.
  1928 February, H[oward] P[hillips] Lovecraft, “The Call of Cthulhu”, in Farnsworth Wright, editor, Weird Tales: A Magazine of the Bizarre and Unusual, volume 11, number 2, Indianapolis, Ind.: Popular Fiction Pub. Co., pages 159–178 and 287
  I have read all her articles and come to admire both her elegant turn of phrase and the noble cast of mind which inspires it; but never, I confess, did I look to see beauty and wit so perfectly united.
  1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial, published 2007, page 330
14. Obsolete form of caste (“hereditary social class of South Asia”).
  Quotations
  The brahmin's cast is higher than any other cast.
  1821, Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, volumes 12-16, page 160
15. Animal and insect remains which have been regurgitated by a bird.
16. A group of crabs.
17. A chance or attempt at something.
adjective
not comparable
1. Of an animal, such as a horse or sheep: Lying in a position from which it cannot rise on its own.

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