cast

Etymology

From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kastōną (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp. The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.

verb

1. (physical) To move, or be moved, away.
   1. (now somewhat literary) To throw.
   2. To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea.
   3. To throw down or aside.
      Near Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, Madman, co-pilot and plane were caught in a storm, cast into the Caribbean, drowned. 19 Dec 1930, “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).
      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. 2 March 2002, 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.
   8. (archaic) To throw up, as a mound, or rampart.
      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.
      1695 (first published), 1726 (final dated of publication) John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies This […] casts a sulphurous smell.
      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.).
   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.
   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.).
      he is […] a perfect astrologer, that can cast the rise and fall of others, and mark their errant motions to his own use. , vol.1, New York Review of Books, 2001, p.309
      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.
      … 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
      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).
      The director cast the part carefully.
   4. (transitive) To assign a role in a play or performance to (an actor).
      The director cast John Smith as King Lear.
   5. (transitive) To describe in an opinionated way. Mostly used with a metaphor involving light.
      King John cast his predecessor in a negative light to deflect criticism of his own questionable decisions.
   6. To consider; to turn or revolve in the mind; to plan.
      to cast about for reasons
   7. (archaic) To impose; to bestow; to rest.
   8. (archaic) To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict.
      to be cast in damages
      She was cast to be hanged. 1822, John Galt, The Provost
   9. To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to make preponderate; to decide.
      a casting voice
      24 July, 1659, Robert South, Interest Deposed, and Truth Restored How much interest casts the balance in cases dubious!
5. To perform, bring forth (a magical spell or enchantment).
   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.
   The threat of Russian barbarism sweeping over the free world will cast its ominous shadow over us for many, many years. 24 April 1950, “A Global View”, in Time
   A sudden thought cast a gloom over his countenance. 1960, Lawrence Durrell, Clea
   The Poet and the Painter Casting shadows on the water As the sun plays on the infantry Returning 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.
   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. , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.98
8. To shape (molten metal etc.) by pouring into a mould; to make (an object) in such a way.
   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. 24 March 1923, “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.).
   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.
    Casting is generally an indication of bad design.
13. (hunting) Of dogs, hunters: to spread out and search for a scent.
    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.
    The streamer was the first to cast footage of the new game.

noun

1. An act of throwing.
2. (fishing) An instance of throwing out a fishing line.
   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.
   a cast of scatter'd dust
4. A small mass of earth "thrown off" or excreted by a worm.
   The area near the stream was covered with little bubbly worm casts.
5. The collective group of actors performing a play or production together. Contrasted with crew.
   He’s in the cast of Oliver.
   The cast was praised for a fine performance.
6. The casting procedure.
   The men got into position for the cast, two at the ladle, two with long rods, all with heavy clothing.
7. An object made in a mould.
   The cast would need a great deal of machining to become a recognizable finished part.
8. A supportive and immobilising device used to help mend broken bones.
   The doctor put a cast on the boy’s broken arm.
9. The mould used to make cast objects.
   A plaster cast was made from his face.
10. (hawking) The number of hawks (or occasionally other birds) cast off at one time; a pair.
    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.
    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.
    Her features had a delicate cast to them.
    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.
    a cast of mind, a mental tendency.
    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
    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”).
    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.

adj

1. Of an animal, such as a horse or sheep: Lying in a position from which it cannot rise on its own.