cast
Definitions
General English
General Science
- noun an instruction in a programming language that converts data from one type to another
Agriculture
- verb to bear an offspring prematurely
- verb to place an animal on its side on the ground
Cars & Driving
- adjective produced by pouring molten metal into a sand or metal mould
- verb to produce (a metal part) by pouring molten metal into a sand or metal mould
Computing
- noun each individual part of a multimedia presentation or animation. The members of a cast can be individual images, sound clips, or text.
Media Studies
- noun the actors or other performers in a drama, dance or other production
- verb to choose somebody for a particular role in a drama, dance, or other performance, or choose people for all the roles in a production
Medical
- noun a mass of material formed in a hollow organ or tube and excreted in fluid
Publishing
- verb to make a piece of type out of hot metal
Sports
- noun an enclosed support for an injured body part that holds it rigid while the tissues heal
Origin & History of “cast”
Cast comes from Old Norse kasta ‘throw’. It has gradually been replaced since middle English times as the ordinary word for ‘propelling with the arm’ by throw. Of the various metaphorical senses of the noun, ‘set of performers in a play’ developed in the 17th century, apparently from an earlier ‘plan, design’.
