Casts

Part of speech: verb, noun

Definitions

1. Propels an object through the air by throwing ; chooses actors to play characters in a performance ; shapes an object by pouring liquid into a mold until it hardens
2. Throws or flings something with a particular aim ; appoints performers for parts in a film, play, or show ; creates a form by letting molten material solidify in a cast
3. Sends something flying through the air using the arm ; assigns roles to individuals in theatrical or cinematic productions ; produces a figure by pouring substances into a designed container to set

Etymology: "Casts" is the third-person singular present of "cast", and also the plural of the noun, so it covers both the throwing sense and the sense of arranging actors or shaping a mould. The verb itself came into Middle English from Old Norse "kasta", meaning "to throw" or "to overturn", and it pushed aside the native Old English verb "warp" in the sense of flinging something. That replacement is a neat reversal: a Scandinavian import beat out a word that had been English for centuries, at least for hurling objects. The Old Norse word goes back to a Proto-Germanic root "*kastōną", whose ultimate origin is unknown. Its cousins survive across the North Sea and Baltic: Swedish "kasta", Danish "kaste", Icelandic "kasta" and Scots "cast" all still mean "to throw" or "to toss". So the sense of flinging is the oldest and most widely shared one. The meanings for casting actors and for making figures by pouring metal or plaster into a mould developed later from that same core idea of throwing or pouring something into a shape. The broadcasting sense, as in "webcast" or "podcast", comes from the same verb, which is why the same spelling turns up in those compounds.

Synonyms: throws, flings, hurls, launches, projects

Antonyms: catches, receives, holds, grabs, captures