Adjacent Words

To cast off definitions

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Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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 a horse, 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 self on 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.