Cast | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Cast, v. t.

verbtransitive

(6), v. t. [imp. & p. p. CAST; p. pr. & vb. n. CASTING.] [Dan. kaste, Icel. & Sw. kasta.] 1. To send or drive from by force; to throw; to fling; to hurl; to impel. A mighty strong west wind, which took away the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea. Ex. x. 14. Joshua cast lots for them in Shiloh. Josh. xviii. 10. Uzziah prepared slings to cast stones. 2 Chron. xxvi. 14. The sea hath cast me on the rocks. Shak. 2. To throw, direct, or turn, as the sight. How earnestly he casts his eyes upon me! Shak. 3. To throw on the ground, as in wrestling; to overcome; to condemn or convict. I made a shift to cast him. Shak. There then we met; both tried, and both were cast. Dryden. 4. To throw off, or shed; to throw aside; to reject. The groves their honors cast. Dryden. The creatures that cast the skin are the snake, the viper, the grasshopper, the lizard, the silkworm, &c. Bacon. 5. To throw out or emit; to exhale. This casts a sulphurous smell. Woodward. 6. To compute; to reckon; to calculate; to contrive; to plan; to decide; to judge, convict, or condemn; as, to cast a horoscope, to calculate or reckon it. She was cast to be hanged. Jeffrey.

To make to preponderate; to decide by a vote that gives a superiority in numbers; as, to cast the balance in one's favor.
To form into a particular shape, by pouring liquid metal into a mold; to found; as, to cast cannon.

Thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it. Ex. xxv. 12.

To fix or distribute, as the parts of a play among actors. Addison.
To communicate; to spread over; as, to cast a luster upon posterity; to cast splendor upon actions, or light upon a subject. Dryden.

To cast anchor (Naut.), to moor a ship. — To cast aside, to dismiss or reject as useless or inconvenient. — To cast away. (a.) To throw away; to lavish or waste by profusion; to turn to no use; as, to cast away life. Addison. (b.) (Naut.) To wreck, as a ship. — To cast by, to reject; to dismiss or discard; to throw away. — To cast down, to throw down; to deject or depress, as the mind. “Why art thou cast down, O my soul!” Ps. xlii. 5. — To cast forth, to throw out, or reject, as from an inclosed place; to emit, or send abroad; to exhale. — To cast off. (a.) To discard or reject; to drive away; to put off; to put away; to disburden. (b.) (Hunting.) To leave behind, as dogs; to set loose, or free. (c.) (Naut.) To loose, or untie. — To cast out, to send forth; to reject, or turn out; to throw out, as words; to speak or give vent to. — To cast up. (a.) To compute; to reckon; to calculate; as, to cast up accounts, or the cost. (b.) To eject from the stomach; to vomit. — To cast on, to refer or resign to. South. — To cast one's self on, to resign or yield one's self to the disposal of, without reserve. — To cast young, to miscarry; to suffer abortion. — To cast in the teeth, to upbraid; to charge; to twit. — To cast off copy (Print.), to ascertain how many printed pages will be made by a manuscript, by setting up a portion for trial. Brande.

Cast, v. i.

verbintransitive

Sense 1. To turn or revolve in the mind; to contrive; — sometimes followed by about. I cast in careful mind To seek her out. Spencer. 2. To receive form or shape. It [metal] will not run thin, so as to cast and mold. Woodward. 3. To warp; to become twisted, or bent out of shape. Stuff is said to cast or warp when . . . it alters its flatness or straightness. Moxon. 4. (Naut.) To fall off, or incline, so as to bring the side of a ship to the wind. Totten.

Cast, n.

noun

n. 1. The act of casting; a throw.

Sense 2. The thing thrown. “A cast of . . . dust.” Dryden.

Sense 3. The distance through which any thing is thrown. “About a stone’s cast.” Luke xxii. 41.

Sense 4. A throw of dice; hence, a chance or venture. “An even cast whether the army should march this way or that way.” South.

I have set my life upon a cast, And I will stand the hazard of the die. Shak.

Sense 5. The act of casting in a mold. “Daily cast of brazen cannon.” Shak.

Sense 6. The form or shape into which any thing is cast or molded.

An heroic poem, but in another cast and figure than any that had ever been written before. Prior.

Sense 7. Whatever is cast in a mold; an impression in bronze, plaster, &c.

Sense 8. Manner or quality of appearance, as of mien, air, style, color, &c.; as, a peculiar cast of countenance. “A neat cast of verse.” Pope.

The native hue of resolution Is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought. Shak.

Sense 9. An unexpected opportunity, privilege, or advantage; as, to have the cast of a cart; that is, an opportunity of riding. W. Scott.

Sense 10. The assignment of parts in a play to the actors.

Sense 11. The company of actors to whom the parts in a play are assigned; as, a good cast, a strong cast.

Sense 12. (Falconry.) A flight or number of hawks let go at once from the hand. “As when a cast of falcons make their flight.” Spenser.

Sense 13. A stroke, touch, or trick.

This was a cast of Wood’s politics, for his information was wholly false. Swift.

The same man taught the cast of drawing honey out of the combs. Holland.

Sense 14. A motion or turn, as of the eye; direction; look; glance; squint.

The cast of the eye is a gesture of aversion. Bacon.

Sense 15. A tube or funnel for conveying metal into a mold.

The last cast, the last throw or effort, on which every thing is ventured.