cast

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search
See also čast, and část

Contents

[edit] English

Wikipedia-logo.png
 Cast on Wikipedia

Wikipedia

[edit] Etymology

From Old Norse kasta (“to throw”). It displaced warp; and has in literal senses itself been generally displaced by throw.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Verb

cast (third-person singular simple present casts, present participle casting, simple past and past participle cast)

  1. (now somewhat literary) To throw. [from 13th c.]
    • 1623, William Shakespeare, Two Gentlemen of Verona:
      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 [...].
    • 1760, Lawrence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, 262:
      The more, an' please your honour, the pity, said the Corporal; in uttering which, he cast his spade into the wheelbarrow [...].
  2. To direct (one's eyes, gaze etc.). [from 13th c.]
    • 1595, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part 3:
      To whom do Lyons cast their gentle Lookes? Not to the Beast, that would vsurpe their Den.
    • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, I.11:
      She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement [...].
  3. To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea. [from 14th c.]
    • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 4:
      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) [...].
  4. To add up a column of figures; cross-cast refers to adding up a row of figures. [from 14th c.]
    • 1594, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, part 2:
      The Clearke of Chartam: hee can write and / reade, and cast accompt.
    • 1719 Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
      I cast up the notches on my post, and found I had been on shore three hundred and sixty-five days.
  5. (astrology) To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.). [from 14th c.]
    • 1621, Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, vol. 1, New York Review Books 2001, p. 309:
      he is [...] a perfect astrologer, that can cast the rise and fall of others, and mark their errant motions to his own use.
  6. To perform, bring forth (a magical spell or enchantment).
  7. To throw (light etc.) on or upon something, or in a given direction.
    • 1950, "A Global View", Time, 24 Apr 1950:
      The threat of Russian barbarism sweeping over the free world will cast its ominous shadow over us for many, many years..
    • 1960, Lawrence Durrell, Clea:
      A sudden thought cast a gloom over his countenance.
  8. (obsolete) To plan, intend (to do something). [14th-19th c.]
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book VII.2:
      "Fayre damesell, I thanke you hartely," seyde Sir Launcelot, "but truly," seyde he, "I caste me never to be wedded man."
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.i:
      I wrapt my selfe in Palmers weed, / And cast to seeke him forth through daunger and great dreed.
  9. (obsolete except in set phrases) To remove, take off (clothes). [from 14th c.]
    • 1822, "Life of Donald McBane", Blackwood's Magazine, vol. 12, p. 745:
      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 [...].
    • 2002, Jess Cartner-Morley, "How to Wear Clothes", The Guardian, 2 Mar 02:
      You know the saying, "Ne'er cast a clout till May is out"? Well, personally, I'm bored of my winter clothes by March.
  10. Specifically, to throw down or aside. [from 15th c.]
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.xii:
      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 [...].
    • 1611, The Bible, Authorized Version, Matthew VI.30:
      it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.
    • 1930, "Sidar the Madman", Time, 19 Dec 1930:
      Near Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, Madman, co-pilot and plane were caught in a storm, cast into the Caribbean, drowned.
    • 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate 2010, p. 316:
      Her bow is not to her liking. In a temper, she casts it on the grass.
  11. (of an animal) To throw off (the skin) as a process of growth; to shed the hair or fur of the coat. [from 15th c.]
  12. (archaic) To give birth to (a child) prematurely; to miscarry. [from 15th c.]
    • 1603, John Florio, translating Michel de Montaigne, Folio Society 2006, vol. 1 p. 98:
      being with childe, they may without feare of accusation, spoyle and cast [transl. avorter] their children, with certaine medicaments, which they have only for that purpose.
    • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, V.20:
      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.
  13. To shape (molten metal etc.) by pouring into a mould; to make (an object) in such a way. [from 15th c.]
    • 1923, "Rodin's Death", Time, 24 Mar 1923:
      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.
  14. To twist or warp (of fabric, timber etc.). [from 16th c.]
  15. To assign a role in a play or performance. [from 18th c.]
    The director cast the part carefully.
  16. (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. [from 18th c.]
  17. To deposit (a ballot or voting paper); to formally register (one's vote). [from 19th c.]
  18. (computing) To change a variable type from, for example, integer to real, or integer to text. [from 20th c.]
    Casting is generally an indication of bad design.
  19. (hunting) Of dogs, hunters: to spread out and search for a scent. [from 18th c.]
    • 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber 2005, p. 50:
      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.
  20. (nautical) To heave the lead and line in order to ascertain the depth of water.
  21. (medicine) To set (a bone etc.) in a cast.

[edit] Derived terms

Derived terms

[edit] Translations

throw forcefully
throw down
throw a fishing line or net into the water
assign a role in a play or performance
change the type of a variable
make by pouring into a mould
of fabric: twist or warp
bring the sailing ship on to the required tack just as the anchor is weighed
heave a lead and line in order to ascertain the depth of water
add up a column of figures
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Noun

cast (plural casts)

  1. An act of throwing.
  2. Something which has been thrown, dispersed etc.
  3. A small mass of earth "thrown off" or excreted by a worm.
    The area near the stream was covered with little bubbly worm casts.
  4. 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.
  5. The casting procedure.
    The men got into position for the cast, two at the ladle, two with long rods, all with heavy clothing.
  6. An object made in a mould.
    The cast would need a great deal of machining to become a recognizable finished part.
  7. A supportive and immobilising device used to help mend broken bones.
    The doctor put a cast on the boy’s broken arm.
  8. The mould used to make cast objects
    A plaster cast was made of his face.
  9. A squint.
  10. Visual appearance.
    Her features had a delicate cast to them.
  11. The form of one's thoughts, mind etc.
    • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 330:
      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.
  12. An animal, especially a horse, that is unable to rise without assistance.
  13. Animal and insect remains which have been regurgitated by a bird.
  14. A group of crabs.

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

supportive and immobilising device
group of people performing a play
casting procedure
small mass of earth excreted by a worm
object made in a mould
mould used to make cast objects
squint
visual appearance
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Oxford-Paravia Concise – Dizionario Inglese-Italiano e Italiano-Inglese. Edited by Maria Cristina Bareggi. Torino: Paravia, 2003 (in collaboration with Oxford University Press). ISBN 8839551107. Online version

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

[edit] Catalan

[edit] Adjective

cast m. (feminine casta, masculine plural casts, feminine plural castes)

  1. chaste

[edit] Dutch

[edit] Pronunciation

  • IPA: /kɑːst/

[edit] Noun

cast m. (plural casts, diminutive castje)

  1. cast (people performing a movie)

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Verb

cast

  1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of casten.
  2. imperative of casten.

[edit] Italian

[edit] Etymology

Borrowing from English cast

[edit] Noun

cast [[Category:inv. nouns lacking gender]]

  1. cast (people performing a movie)

[edit] Manx

[edit] Adjective

cast

  1. contorted, curly, curved
  2. complex, intricate, many-sided
  3. ticklish

[edit] Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
cast chast gast
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

[edit] Derived terms

[edit] Romanian

[edit] Etymology

Borrowed from Latin castus.

[edit] Adjective

cast

  1. chaste, clean, pure

[edit] Synonyms

Retrieved from "http://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=cast&oldid=16240017"
Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Views
Actions
Navigation
Toolbox
In other languages