To cast off

To cast off
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. [1913 Webster]

Uzziah prepared . . . slings to cast stones. --2 Chron. xxvi. 14. [1913 Webster]

Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. --Acts. xii. 8. [1913 Webster]

We must be cast upon a certain island. --Acts. xxvii. 26. [1913 Webster]

2. To direct or turn, as the eyes. [1913 Webster]

How earnestly he cast his eyes upon me! --Shak. [1913 Webster]

3. To drop; to deposit; as, to cast a ballot. [1913 Webster]

4. To throw down, as in wrestling. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

5. To throw up, as a mound, or rampart. [1913 Webster]

Thine enemies shall cast a trench [bank] about thee. --Luke xix. 48. [1913 Webster]

6. To throw off; to eject; to shed; to lose. [1913 Webster]

His filth within being cast. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Neither shall your vine cast her fruit. --Mal. iii. 11 [1913 Webster]

The creatures that cast the skin are the snake, the viper, etc. --Bacon. [1913 Webster]

7. To bring forth prematurely; to slink. [1913 Webster]

Thy she-goats have not cast their young. --Gen. xxi. 38. [1913 Webster]

8. To throw out or emit; to exhale. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

This . . . casts a sulphureous smell. --Woodward. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

10. To impose; to bestow; to rest. [1913 Webster]

The government I cast upon my brother. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Cast thy burden upon the Lord. --Ps. iv. 22. [1913 Webster]

11. To dismiss; to discard; to cashier. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

The state can not with safety cast him. [1913 Webster]

12. To compute; to reckon; to calculate; as, to cast a horoscope. ``Let it be cast and paid.'' --Shak. [1913 Webster]

You cast the event of war, my noble lord. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

13. To contrive; to plan. [Archaic] [1913 Webster]

The cloister . . . had, I doubt not, been cast for [an orange-house]. --Sir W. Temple. [1913 Webster]

14. To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict; as, to be cast in damages. [1913 Webster]

She was cast to be hanged. --Jeffrey. [1913 Webster]

Were the case referred to any competent judge, they would inevitably be cast. --Dr. H. More. [1913 Webster]

15. To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to make preponderate; to decide; as, a casting voice. [1913 Webster]

How much interest casts the balance in cases dubious! --South. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

17. (Print.) To stereotype or electrotype. [1913 Webster]

18. To fix, distribute, or allot, as the parts of a play among actors; also to assign (an actor) for a part. [1913 Webster]

Our parts in the other world will be new cast. --Addison. [1913 Webster]

{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 {To cast one's self 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. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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  • cast-off — cast offs also castoff ADJ: ADJ n Cast off things, especially clothes, are ones which someone no longer uses because they are old or unfashionable, and which they give to someone else or throw away. Alexandra looked plump and awkward in her cast… …   English dictionary

  • cast off (or cast something off) — 1》 Knitting take the stitches off the needle by looping each over the next to finish the edge. 2》 set a boat or ship free from her moorings. 3》 let loose a hunting hound or hawk. 4》 Printing estimate the space that will be taken in print by… …   English new terms dictionary

  • Cast-off — a. Cast or laid aside; thrown away; discarded; as, cast off clothes. Syn: discarded, junked, scrap(prenominal), waste. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cast off something — cast off (something) to get rid of something. Shirts and ties were being cast off in favor of informal clothes for business. Etymology: based on the literal meaning of cast off (= to unfasten the ropes holding a ship) …   New idioms dictionary

  • cast off — (something) to get rid of something. Shirts and ties were being cast off in favor of informal clothes for business. Etymology: based on the literal meaning of cast off (= to unfasten the ropes holding a ship) …   New idioms dictionary

  • cast-off — adj [only before noun] cast off clothes or other goods are not wanted or have been thrown away …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • cast off — ► cast off 1) Knitting take the stitches off the needle by looping each over the next. 2) set a boat or ship free from its moorings. Main Entry: ↑cast …   English terms dictionary

  • cast-off — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ abandoned or discarded. ► NOUN ▪ a cast off garment …   English terms dictionary

  • cast|off — «KAST F, OF; KAHST », adjective, noun. –adj. thrown away; abandoned; discarded: »castoff clothes. –n. a person or thing that has been cast off: »... his everlasting castoffs (Charles Spurgeon). Thou shalt be From the city of the free Thyself a… …   Useful english dictionary

  • cast off — index abandon (physically leave), abandon (relinquish), defect, derelict (abandoned), disencumber, disown ( …   Law dictionary

  • cast off — 1) PHRASAL VERB If you cast off something, you get rid of it because it is no longer necessary or useful to you, or because it is harmful to you. [LITERARY] → See also cast off [V P n (not pron)] The essay exhorts women to cast off their… …   English dictionary

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