Fling vs. Cast

An act of throwing, often violently.

An act of moving the limbs or body with violent movements, especially in a dance.

Example: ‘the fling of a horse’;

An act or period of unrestrained indulgence.

A short casual sexual relationship.

Example: ‘I had a fling with a girl I met on holiday.’;

(figuratively) An attempt, a try (as in "give it a fling").

(obsolete) A severe or contemptuous remark; an expression of sarcastic scorn; a gibe or taunt.

A lively Scottish country dance.

Example: ‘the Highland fling’;

(obsolete) A trifling matter; an object of contempt.

(transitive) To throw with violence or quick movement; to hurl.

To throw oneself in a violent or hasty manner; to rush or spring with violence or haste.

To throw; to wince; to flounce.

To utter abusive language; to sneer.

Example: ‘The scold began to flout and fling.’;

To cast, send, to throw from the hand; to hurl; to dart; to emit with violence as if thrown from the hand; as, to fing a stone into the pond.

Example: ‘'T is Fate that flings the dice: and, as she flings,Of kings makes peasants, and of peasants kings.’; ‘He . . . like Jove, his lighting flung.’; ‘I know thy generous temper well.Fling but the appearance of dishonor on it,It straight takes fire.’;

To shed forth; to emit; to scatter.

Example: ‘The sun begins to flingHis flaring beams.’; ‘Every beam new transient colors flings.’;

To throw; to hurl; to throw off or down; to prostrate; hence, to baffle; to defeat; as, to fling a party in litigation.

Example: ‘His horse started, flung him, and fell upon him.’; ‘Cromwell, I charge thee, fling away ambition.’; ‘This question so flung down before the guests, . . . Was handed over by consent of allTo me who had not spoken.’;

To throw; to wince; to flounce; as, the horse began to kick and fling.

To cast in the teeth; to utter abusive language; to sneer; as, the scold began to flout and fling.

To throw one's self in a violent or hasty manner; to rush or spring with violence or haste.

Example: ‘And crop-full, out of doors he flings.’; ‘I flung closer to his breast,As sword that, after battle, flings to sheath.’;

A cast from the hand; a throw; also, a flounce; a kick; as, the fling of a horse.

A severe or contemptuous remark; an expression of sarcastic scorn; a gibe; a sarcasm.

Example: ‘I, who love to have a fling,Both at senate house and king.’;

A kind of dance; as, the Highland fling.

A trifing matter; an object of contempt.

Example: ‘England were but a flingSave for the crooked stick and the gray goose wing.’;

a short period during which one indulges one's wishes, whims, or desires in an unrestrained manner.

a love affair.

a casual or brief attempt to accomplish something.

a period during which one tries a new activity; as, he took a fling at playing tennis.

a usually brief attempt;

Example: ‘he took a crack at it’; ‘I gave it a whirl’;

a brief indulgence of your impulses

the act of flinging

throw with force or recklessness;

Example: ‘fling the frisbee’;

move in an abrupt or headlong manner;

Example: ‘He flung himself onto the sofa’;

indulge oneself;

Example: ‘I splurged on a new TV’;

throw or cast away;

Example: ‘Put away your worries’;

throw or hurl forcefully

Example: ‘I was flung into jail’; ‘he picked up the debris and flung it away’; ‘she flung herself down on his bed’;

move or push (something) suddenly or violently

Example: ‘he flung back the bedclothes’; ‘Jennifer flung open a door’;

start or engage in (an activity or enterprise) with great energy and enthusiasm

Example: ‘he flung himself into his athletics’;

go quickly and angrily

Example: ‘Lisa had flung out of the house without so much as a glance at him’;

a short period of enjoyment or wild behaviour

Example: ‘one final fling before a tranquil retirement’;

a short, spontaneous sexual relationship

Example: ‘I had a fling with someone when I was at college’;

short for Highland fling

(physical) To move, or be moved, away.

To throw.

To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea.

Specifically, to throw down or aside.

(of an animal) To throw off (the skin) as a process of growth; to shed the hair or fur of the coat.

To cause (a horse or other large animal) to lie down with its legs underneath it.

To remove, take off (clothes).

(nautical) To heave the lead and line in order to ascertain the depth of water.

(obsolete) To vomit.

(archaic) To throw up, as a mound, or rampart.

(archaic) To throw out or emit; to exhale.

To direct (one's eyes, gaze etc.).

(dated) To add up (a column of figures, accounts etc.); cross-cast refers to adding up a row of figures.

(social) To predict, to decide, to plan.

(astrology) To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.).

(obsolete) To plan, intend.

(transitive) To assign (a role in a play or performance).

Example: ‘The director cast the part carefully.’;

(transitive) To assign a role in a play or performance to (an actor).

Example: ‘The director cast John Smith as King Lear.’;

To consider; to turn or revolve in the mind; to plan.

Example: ‘to cast about for reasons’;

(archaic) To impose; to bestow; to rest.

(archaic) To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict.

Example: ‘to be cast in damages’;

To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to make preponderate; to decide.

Example: ‘a casting voice’;

To perform, bring forth (a magical spell or enchantment).

To throw (light etc.) on or upon something, or in a given direction.

(archaic) To give birth to (a child) prematurely; to miscarry.

To shape (molten metal etc.) by pouring into a mould; to make (an object) in such a way.

To stereotype or electrotype.

To twist or warp (of fabric, timber etc.).

(nautical) To bring the bows of a sailing ship on to the required tack just as the anchor is weighed by use of the headsail; to bring (a ship) round.

To deposit (a ballot or voting paper); to formally register (one's vote).

(computing) To change a variable type from, for example, integer to real, or integer to text.

Example: ‘Casting is generally an indication of bad design.’;

(hunting) Of dogs, hunters: to spread out and search for a scent.

(medicine) To set (a bone etc.) in a cast.

Example: ‘some are still missing examples’;

(Wicca) To open a circle in order to begin a spell or meeting of witches.

An act of throwing.

Something which has been thrown, dispersed etc.

A small mass of earth "thrown off" or excreted by a worm.

Example: ‘The area near the stream was covered with little bubbly worm casts.’;

The collective group of actors performing a play or production together. Contrasted with crew.

Example: ‘He’s in the cast of Oliver.’; ‘The cast was praised for a fine performance.’;

The casting procedure.

Example: ‘The men got into position for the cast, two at the ladle, two with long rods, all with heavy clothing.’;

An object made in a mould.

Example: ‘The cast would need a great deal of machining to become a recognizable finished part.’;

A supportive and immobilising device used to help mend broken bones.

Example: ‘The doctor put a cast on the boy’s broken arm.’;

The mould used to make cast objects.

Example: ‘A plaster cast was made from his face.’;

(hawking) The number of hawks (or occasionally other birds) cast off at one time; a pair.

A squint.

Visual appearance.

Example: ‘Her features had a delicate cast to them.’;

The form of one's thoughts, mind etc.

Example: ‘a cast of mind, a mental tendency.’;

An animal, especially a horse, that is unable to rise without assistance.

Animal and insect remains which have been regurgitated by a bird.

A group of crabs.

To send or drive by force; to throw; to fling; to hurl; to impel.

Example: ‘Uzziah prepared . . . slings to cast stones.’; ‘Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me.’; ‘We must be cast upon a certain island.’;

To direct or turn, as the eyes.

Example: ‘How earnestly he cast his eyes upon me!’;

To drop; to deposit; as, to cast a ballot.

To throw down, as in wrestling.

To throw up, as a mound, or rampart.

Example: ‘Thine enemies shall cast a trench [bank] about thee.’;

To throw off; to eject; to shed; to lose.

Example: ‘His filth within being cast.’; ‘Neither shall your vine cast her fruit.’; ‘The creatures that cast the skin are the snake, the viper, etc.’;

To bring forth prematurely; to slink.

Example: ‘Thy she-goats have not cast their young.’;

To throw out or emit; to exhale.

Example: ‘This . . . casts a sulphureous smell.’;

To cause to fall; to shed; to reflect; to throw; as, to cast a ray upon a screen; to cast light upon a subject.

To impose; to bestow; to rest.

Example: ‘The government I cast upon my brother.’; ‘Cast thy burden upon the Lord.’;

To dismiss; to discard; to cashier.

Example: ‘The state can not with safety cast him.’;

To compute; to reckon; to calculate; as, to cast a horoscope.

Example: ‘You cast the event of war, my noble lord.’;

To contrive; to plan.

Example: ‘The cloister . . . had, I doubt not, been cast for [an orange-house].’;

To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict; as, to be cast in damages.

Example: ‘She was cast to be hanged.’; ‘Were the case referred to any competent judge, they would inevitably be cast.’;

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

Example: ‘How much interest casts the balance in cases dubious!’;

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.

To stereotype or electrotype.

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

Example: ‘Our parts in the other world will be new cast.’;

To throw, as a line in angling, esp, with a fly hook.

To turn the head of a vessel around from the wind in getting under weigh.

Example: ‘Weigh anchor, cast to starboard.’;

To consider; to turn or revolve in the mind; to plan; as, to cast about for reasons.

Example: ‘She . . . cast in her mind what manner of salution this should be.’;

To calculate; to compute.

Example: ‘Who would cast and balance at a desk.’;

To receive form or shape in a mold.

Example: ‘It will not run thin, so as to cast and mold.’;

To warp; to become twisted out of shape.

Example: ‘Stuff is said to cast or warp when . . . it alters its flatness or straightness.’;

To vomit.

Example: ‘These verses . . . make me ready to cast.’;

3d pers. pres. of Cast, for Casteth.

The act of casting or throwing; a throw.

The thing thrown.

Example: ‘A cast of dreadful dust.’;

The distance to which a thing is or can be thrown.

A throw of dice; hence, a chance or venture.

Example: ‘An even cast whether the army should march this way or that way.’; ‘I have set my life upon a cast,And I will stand the hazard of the die.’;

That which is throw out or off, shed, or ejected; as, the skin of an insect, the refuse from a hawk's stomach, the excrement of a earthworm.

The act of casting in a mold.

Example: ‘And why such daily cast of brazen cannon.’;

An impression or mold, taken from a thing or person; amold; a pattern.

That which is formed in a mild; esp. a reproduction or copy, as of a work of art, in bronze or plaster, etc.; a casting.

Form; appearence; mien; air; style; as, a peculiar cast of countenance.

Example: ‘An heroic poem, but in another cast and figure.’; ‘And thus the native hue of resolutionIs sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought.’;

A tendency to any color; a tinge; a shade.

Example: ‘Gray with a cast of green.’;

A chance, opportunity, privilege, or advantage; specifically, an opportunity of riding; a lift.

Example: ‘We bargained with the driver to give us a cast to the next stage.’; ‘If we had the cast o' a cart to bring it.’;

The assignment of parts in a play to the actors.

A flight or a couple or set of hawks let go at one time from the hand.

Example: ‘As when a cast of falcons make their flight.’;

A stoke, touch, or trick.

Example: ‘This was a cast of Wood's politics; for his information was wholly false.’;

A motion or turn, as of the eye; direction; look; glance; squint.

Example: ‘The cast of the eye is a gesture of aversion.’; ‘And let you see with one cast of an eye.’; ‘This freakish, elvish cast came into the child's eye.’;

A tube or funnel for conveying metal into a mold.

Four; that is, as many as are thrown into a vessel at once in counting herrings, etc; a warp.

Contrivance; plot, design.

the actors in a play

container into which liquid is poured to create a given shape when it hardens

the distinctive form in which a thing is made;

Example: ‘pottery of this cast was found throughout the region’;

the visual appearance of something or someone;

Example: ‘the delicate cast of his features’;

bandage consisting of a firm covering (often made of plaster of Paris) that immobilizes broken bones while they heal

object formed by a mold

the act of throwing dice

the act of throwing a fishing line out over the water by means of a rod and reel

a violent throw

put or send forth;

Example: ‘She threw the flashlight beam into the corner’; ‘The setting sun threw long shadows’; ‘cast a spell’; ‘cast a warm light’;

deposit;

Example: ‘cast a vote’; ‘cast a ballot’;

select to play,sing, or dance a part in a play, movie, musical, opera, or ballet;

Example: ‘He cast a young woman in the role of Desdemona’;

throw forcefully

assign the roles of (a movie or a play) to actors;

Example: ‘Who cast this beautiful movie?’;

move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment;

Example: ‘The gypsies roamed the woods’; ‘roving vagabonds’; ‘the wandering Jew’; ‘The cattle roam across the prairie’; ‘the laborers drift from one town to the next’; ‘They rolled from town to town’;

form by pouring (e.g., wax or hot metal) into a cast or mold;

Example: ‘cast a bronze sculpture’;

get rid of;

Example: ‘he shed his image as a pushy boss’; ‘shed your clothes’;

choose at random;

Example: ‘draw a card’; ‘cast lots’;

formulate in a particular style or language;

Example: ‘I wouldn't put it that way’; ‘She cast her request in very polite language’;

eject the contents of the stomach through the mouth;

Example: ‘After drinking too much, the students vomited’; ‘He purged continuously’; ‘The patient regurgitated the food we gave him last night’;

(of molten metal or glass) formed by pouring or pressing into a mold

throw (something) forcefully in a specified direction

Example: ‘individuals who do not accept the norms are cast out from the group’; ‘he cast the book down on to the chair angrily’; ‘the fishermen cast a large net around a school of tuna’;

throw the hooked and baited end of (a fishing line) out into the water.

let down (an anchor or sounding line).

direct (one's eyes or a look) at something

Example: ‘she cast him a desperate glance’; ‘she cast down her eyes’;

cause (light or shadow) to appear on a surface

Example: ‘the moon cast a pale light over the cottages’;

cause (uncertainty or disparagement) to be associated with something

Example: ‘journalists cast doubt on the government's version of events’;

discard

Example: ‘he jumped in, casting caution to the wind’;

shed (skin or horns) in the process of growth

Example: ‘the antlers are cast each year’;

(of a horse) lose (a shoe).

shape (metal or other material) by pouring it into a mould while molten

Example: ‘when hammered or cast, bronze could be made into tools’;

make (a moulded object) by casting metal

Example: ‘a bell was cast for the church’;

arrange and present in a specified form or style

Example: ‘he issued statements cast in tones of reason’;

register (a vote)

Example: ‘votes have been cast in 40 per cent of the seats’;

cause (a magic spell) to take effect

Example: ‘the city casts a spell on the visitor’; ‘the witch cast a spell on her to turn her into a beast’;

calculate and record details of (a horoscope)

Example: ‘you can look at the star chart cast at somebody's birth’;

(in country dancing) change one's position by moving a certain number of places in a certain direction along the outside of the line in which one is dancing

Example: ‘cross the set and cast down one place’;

(of a dog) search in different directions for a lost scent

Example: ‘the dog cast furiously for the vanished rabbit’;

let loose (hounds) on a scent

Example: ‘casting the hounds into cover, we stood and listened’;

immobilize (an animal, especially a cow) by using a rope to cause it to fall on its side.

assign a part in a play or film to (an actor)

Example: ‘he was cast as a young knight in her lavish historical epic’;

allocate parts in (a play or film)

Example: ‘assembling a great baseball team is as tricky as casting a play’;

an object made by shaping molten metal or similar material in a mould

Example: ‘bronze casts of the sculpture’;

a mould used to make an object by casting

Example: ‘the artist's casts and moulds became the property of the museum’;

a bandage stiffened with plaster of Paris, moulded to the shape of a limb that is broken and used to support and protect it

Example: ‘I had to spend a month in a cast’;

an act of throwing something forcefully

Example: ‘he grabbed a spear for a third cast’;

a throw of a fishing line

Example: ‘I swung the rod out for a cast’;

the leader of a fishing line.

a throw or a number thrown at dice

Example: ‘'tis no winning cast’;

the form or appearance of something, especially someone's features or complexion

Example: ‘she had a somewhat masculine cast of countenance’; ‘the colours he wore emphasized the olive cast of his skin’;

the character of something

Example: ‘this question is for minds of a more philosophical cast than mine’;

a slight squint

Example: ‘he had a cast in one eye’;

short for worm cast

a pellet regurgitated by a hawk or owl.

a wide search made by a hound or pack of hounds to find a trail.

a wide sweep made by a sheepdog in mustering sheep.

a pair or group of hawks or falcons

Example: ‘he gave one thousand pounds for a cast of hawks’;

the actors taking part in a play, film, or other production

Example: ‘he draws sensitive performances from his inexperienced cast’;