Cast \Cast\ (k[.a]st), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cast; p. pr. & vb.
n. Casting.] [Cf. Dan. kaste, Icel. & Sw. kasta; perh. akin
to L. gerere to bear, carry. E. jest.]
1. To send or drive by force; to throw; to fling; to hurl; to
impel.
Uzziah prepared . . . slings to cast stones. --2
Chron. xxvi.
14.
Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. --Acts.
xii. 8.
We must be cast upon a certain island. --Acts.
xxvii. 26.
2. To direct or turn, as the eyes.
How earnestly he cast his eyes upon me! --Shak.
3. To drop; to deposit; as, to cast a ballot.
4. To throw down, as in wrestling. --Shak.
5. To throw up, as a mound, or rampart.
Thine enemies shall cast a trench [bank] about thee.
--Luke xix.
48.
6. To throw off; to eject; to shed; to lose.
His filth within being cast. --Shak.
Neither shall your vine cast her fruit. --Mal. iii.
11
The creatures that cast the skin are the snake, the
viper, etc. --Bacon.
7. To bring forth prematurely; to slink.
Thy she-goats have not cast their young. --Gen. xxi.
38.
8. To throw out or emit; to exhale. [Obs.]
This . . . casts a sulphureous smell. --Woodward.
9. To cause to fall; to shed; to reflect; to throw; as, to
cast a ray upon a screen; to cast light upon a subject.
10. To impose; to bestow; to rest.
The government I cast upon my brother. --Shak.
Cast thy burden upon the Lord. --Ps. iv. 22.
11. To dismiss; to discard; to cashier. [Obs.]
The state can not with safety cast him.
12. To compute; to reckon; to calculate; as, to cast a
horoscope. ``Let it be cast and paid.'' --Shak.
You cast the event of war, my noble lord. --Shak.
13. To contrive; to plan. [Archaic]
The cloister . . . had, I doubt not, been cast for
[an orange-house]. --Sir W.
Temple.
14. To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict;
as, to be cast in damages.
She was cast to be hanged. --Jeffrey.
Were the case referred to any competent judge, they
would inevitably be cast. --Dr. H. More.
15. To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to
make preponderate; to decide; as, a casting voice.
How much interest casts the balance in cases
dubious! --South.
16. To form into a particular shape, by pouring liquid metal
or other material into a mold; to fashion; to found; as,
to cast bells, stoves, bullets.
17. (Print.) To stereotype or electrotype.
18. To fix, distribute, or allot, as the parts of a play
among actors; also to assign (an actor) for a part.
Our parts in the other world will be new cast.
--Addison.
To cast anchor (Naut.) See under Anchor.
To cast a horoscope, to calculate it.
To cast ahorse, sheep, or other animal, to throw with
the feet upwards, in such a manner as to prevent its
rising again.
To cast a shoe, to throw off or lose a shoe, said of a
horse or ox.
To cast aside, to throw or push aside; to neglect; to
reject as useless or inconvenient.
To cast away.
(a) To throw away; to lavish; to waste. ``Cast away a
life'' --Addison.
(b) To reject; to let perish. ``Cast away his people.''
--Rom. xi. 1. ``Cast one away.'' --Shak.
(c) To wreck. ``Cast away and sunk.'' --Shak.
To cast by, to reject; to dismiss or discard; to throw
away.
To cast down, to throw down; to destroy; to deject or
depress, as the mind. ``Why art thou cast down. O my
soul?'' --Ps. xiii. 5.
To cast forth, to throw out, or eject, as from an inclosed
place; to emit; to send out.
To cast in one's lot with, to share the fortunes of.
To cast in one's teeth, to upbraid or abuse one for; to
twin.
To cast lots. See under Lot.
To cast off.
(a) To discard or reject; to drive away; to put off; to
free one's self from.
(b) (Hunting) To leave behind, as dogs; also, to set
loose, or free, as dogs. --Crabb.
(c) (Naut.) To untie, throw off, or let go, as a rope.
To cast off copy, (Print.), to estimate how much printed
matter a given amount of copy will make, or how large the
page must be in order that the copy may make a given
number of pages.
To cast one's selfon or upon to yield or submit one's
self unreservedly to, as to the mercy of another.
To cast out, to throw out; to eject, as from a house; to
cast forth; to expel; to utter.
To cast the lead (Naut.), to sound by dropping the lead to
the bottom.
To cast the water (Med.), to examine the urine for signs of
disease. [Obs.].
To cast up.
(a) To throw up; to raise.
(b) To compute; to reckon, as the cost.
(c) To vomit.
(d) To twit with; to throw in one's teeth.
Casting \Cast"ing\, n.
1. The act of one who casts or throws, as in fishing.
2. The act or process of making casts or impressions, or of
shaping metal or plaster in a mold; the act or the process
of pouring molten metal into a mold.
3. That which is cast in a mold; esp. the mass of metal so
cast; as, a casting in iron; bronze casting.
4. The warping of a board. --Brande & C.
5. The act of casting off, or that which is cast off, as
skin, feathers, excrement, etc.
Casting of draperies, the proper distribution of the folds
of garments, in painting and sculpture.
Casting line (Fishing), the leader; also, sometimes applied
to the long reel line.
Casting net, a net which is cast and drawn, in distinction
from a net that is set and left.
Casting voice, Casting vote, the decisive vote of a
presiding officer, when the votes of the assembly or house
are equally divided. ``When there was an equal vote, the
governor had the casting voice.'' --B. Trumbull.
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