What does cast mean?
"Cast" is one of English's most versatile words, functioning both as a verb and a noun with a remarkable range of meanings. At its core, the verb means to throw or hurl something with deliberate force, but its uses extend well beyond physical motion: directors cast actors in roles, foundries cast metal by pouring it into moulds, and voters cast their ballots. As a noun, cast most commonly refers to the full group of actors performing in a play or film, but it also names the rigid plaster or fibreglass shell that protects a healing broken bone, an object shaped by pouring liquid material into a mould, or even a faint tint or twist, as in a cast of suspicion or a cast in the eye. Derived forms like forecast, broadcast, and overcast embed the word deep in everyday speech. Because its past tense remains simply "cast," unchanged from its Old Norse origins, the word carries a direct link back to the earliest layers of English vocabulary.
To throw something with force; to direct or fling; to select actors for particular roles; to pour molten material into a mould to form an object; to shed or drop off (skin, hair, feathers).
"She cast a quick glance at her watch before answering."
Past tense is always "cast," not "casted."
The collective actors in a play, film, or broadcast; a rigid shell applied to protect a broken bone; an object formed by pouring molten material into a mould; a slight tilt or characteristic expression.
"The entire cast gathered on stage for the final bow."
Plural "casts."
Standard plural, used for multiple groups of actors, medical shells, moulded objects, etc.
"The hospital treated several patients with casts on their arms and legs."
"Cast" is one of the few English words whose simple past tense can be either "cast" or "casted" — though dictionaries firmly side with the original: it's always "cast," never changed since Old Norse settlers brought it ashore.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cast
The word derives from Old Norse kasta, meaning to throw, which entered English during the Viking Age through contact with Scandinavian settlers. It replaced or supplemented native Old English verbs such as weorpan and has retained the same basic sense of throwing ever since. Its figurative and technical senses — selecting actors, moulding metal, forming a protective shell — developed gradually over the Middle English and early Modern English periods. Related Norse borrowings that share this Germanic root include words in the broader Germanic family, though the modern Scandinavian cognates have diverged considerably in form and meaning.
Related word forms
How cast is actually used
Highly polysemous across both everyday and technical registers. In theatre and film, "cast" is standard professional vocabulary. The past tense is always "cast," not "casted." British English sometimes favours /kɑːst/ in careful speech, but /kæst/ is universal in American English. In medicine, "cast" specifically denotes the rigid plaster or fibreglass shell immobilising a fracture. The figurative sense — casting doubt, casting aspersions, casting a vote — is extremely common in formal and journalistic writing.
Easily confused with cast
Cast means to throw or to select actors, while cost means the price of something or the past tense of 'cost'.
Cast is a verb meaning to throw or a noun for actors or a mould, while caste (with an e) is a hereditary social class, especially in the Hindu social system.