different between cast vs fast

English

Etymology

From Middle English casten, from Old Norse kasta (“to throw, cast, overturn”), from Proto-Germanic *kast?n? (“to throw, cast”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots cast (“to cast, throw”), Danish kaste (“to throw”), Swedish kasta (“to throw, cast, fling, toss, discard”), Icelandic kasta (“to pitch, toss”). In the sense of "flinging", displaced native warp.

The senses relating to broadcasting are based on that same term; compare -cast.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation): enPR: käst, IPA^(key): /k??st/
• (Northern England): enPR: k?st, IPA^(key): /kast/
• (General American): enPR: k?st, IPA^(key): /kæst/
• Rhymes: -??st, -æst
• Homophones: caste, karst

Verb

cast (third-person singular simple present casts, present participle casting, simple past and past participle cast or (nonstandard) casted)

1. (physical) To move, or be moved, away.
   1. (now somewhat literary) To throw. [from 13^thc.]
      • 1623, William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona:

        Why then a Ladder quaintly made of Cords / To cast vp, with a paire of anchoring hookes, / Would serue to scale another Hero's towre […].

      • 1760, Laurence Sterne, The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman, p.262:

        The more, an' please your honour, the pity, said the Corporal; in uttering which, he cast his spade into the wheelbarrow […].

   2. To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea. [from 14^thc.]
      • 1526, Bible, tr. William Tyndale, Matthew 4:

        As Jesus walked by the see off Galile, he sawe two brethren: Simon which was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, castynge a neet into the see (for they were fisshers) […].

   3. To throw down or aside. [from 15^thc.]
      • 1611, Bible, Authorized Version, Matthew VI.30:

        it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

      • 1930, "Sidar the Madman", Time, 19 Dec.:

        Near Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, Madman, co-pilot and plane were caught in a storm, cast into the Caribbean, drowned.

      • 2009, Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall, Fourth Estate, 2010, p.316:

        Her bow is not to her liking. In a temper, she casts it on the grass.

   4. (of an animal) To throw off (the skin) as a process of growth; to shed the hair or fur of the coat. [from 15^thc.]
   5. To cause (a horse or other large animal) to lie down with its legs underneath it.
   6. (obsolete except in set phrases) To remove, take off (clothes). [from 14^thc.]
      • 1822, "Life of Donald McBane", Blackwood's Magazine, vol.12, p.745:

        when the serjeant saw me, he cast his coat and put it on me, and they carried me on their shoulders to a village where the wounded were and our surgeons […].

      • 2002, Jess Cartner-Morley, "How to Wear Clothes", The Guardian, 2 March:

        You know the saying, "Ne'er cast a clout till May is out"? Well, personally, I'm bored of my winter clothes by March.

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

      • These verses […] make me ready to cast.

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

      • Thine enemies shall cast a trench [bank] about thee.
   10. (archaic) To throw out or emit; to exhale.
       • 1695 (first published), 1726 (final dated of publication) John Woodward, An Essay toward a Natural History of the Earth and Terrestrial Bodies

         This […] casts a sulphurous smell.

   • 1849, Philip Henry Gosse, Natural History

     This horned bird, as it casts a strong smell, so it hath a foul look, much exceeding the European Raven in bigness

2. To direct (one's eyes, gaze etc.). [from 13^thc.]
   • 1595, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3:

     To whom do Lyons cast their gentle Lookes? Not to the Beast, that would vsurpe their Den.

   • 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, I.11:

     She then yawned again, threw aside her book, and cast her eyes round the room in quest of some amusement […].
3. (dated) To add up (a column of figures, accounts etc.); cross-cast refers to adding up a row of figures. [from 14^thc.]
   • 1594, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 2:

     The Clearke of Chartam: hee can write and / reade, and cast accompt.

   • 1719, Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe

     I cast up the notches on my post, and found I had been on shore three hundred and sixty-five days.

4. (social) To predict, to decide, to plan.
   1. (astrology) To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.). [from 14^thc.]
      • , vol.1, New York Review of Books, 2001, p.309:

        he is […] a perfect astrologer, that can cast the rise and fall of others, and mark their errant motions to his own use.

      • 1971, Keith Thomas, Religion and the Decline of Magic, Folio Society, 2012, p.332:

        John Gadbury confessed that Mrs Cellier, ‘the Popish Midwife’, had asked him to cast the King's nativity, although the astrology claimed to have refused to do so.

      • 1985, Lawrence Durrell, Quinx, Faber & Faber 2004 (Avignon Quintet), p.1197:

        He did the washing up and stayed behind to watch the dinner cook while she hopped off with a friend to have her horoscope cast by another friend.

   2. (obsolete) To plan, intend. [14^th-19^thc.]
      • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.i:

        I wrapt my selfe in Palmers weed, / And cast to seeke him forth through daunger and great dreed.

      • 1685, William Temple, "Upon the Gardens of Epicurus

        The cloister […] had, I doubt not, been cast for [an orange-house].

   3. (transitive) To assign (a role in a play or performance). [from 18^thc.]

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

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

      • She […] cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

   6. (archaic) To impose; to bestow; to rest.
      • Cast thy burden upon the Lord.

   7. (archaic) To defeat in a lawsuit; to decide against; to convict.
      • 1822, John Galt, The Provost

        She was cast to be hanged.

      • 1667, Richard Allestree, The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety

        Were the case referred to any competent judge, […] they would inevitably be cast.

   8. To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to make preponderate; to decide.
      • 24 July, 1659, Robert South, Interest Deposed, and Truth Restored

        How much interest casts the balance in cases dubious!

5. To perform, bring forth (a magical spell or enchantment).
6. To throw (light etc.) on or upon something, or in a given direction.
   • 1950, "A Global View", Time, 24 April:

     The threat of Russian barbarism sweeping over the free world will cast its ominous shadow over us for many, many years.

   • 1960, Lawrence Durrell, Clea:

     A sudden thought cast a gloom over his countenance.

7. (archaic) To give birth to (a child) prematurely; to miscarry. [from 15^thc.]
   • , Folio Society, 2006, vol.1, p.98:

     being with childe, they may without feare of accusation, spoyle and cast [transl. avorter] their children, with certaine medicaments, which they have only for that purpose.

   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, V.20:

     The abortion of a woman they describe by an horse kicking a wolf; because a mare will cast her foal if she tread in the track of that animal.

9. To shape (molten metal etc.) by pouring into a mould; to make (an object) in such a way. [from 15^thc.]
   • 1923, "Rodin's Death", Time, 24 March:

     One copy of the magnificent caveman, The Thinker, of which Rodin cast several examples in bronze, is seated now in front of the Detroit Museum of Art, where it was placed last autumn.

   1. (printing, dated) To stereotype or electrotype.
10. To twist or warp (of fabric, timber etc.). [from 16^thc.]
    • c. 1680, Joseph Moxon, The Art of Joinery

      Stuff is said to cast or warp when […] it alters its flatness or straightness.

11. (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. [from 18^thc.]
12. To deposit (a ballot or voting paper); to formally register (one's vote). [from 19^thc.]
13. (computing) To change a variable type from, for example, integer to real, or integer to text. [from 20^thc.]

14. (hunting) Of dogs, hunters: to spread out and search for a scent. [from 18^thc.]
    • 1955, William Golding, The Inheritors, Faber and Faber, 2005, p.50:

      He clambered on to an apron of rock that held its area out to the sun and began to cast across it. The direction of the wind changed and the scent touched him again.

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

    (Can we add an example for this sense?)

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

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

cast (plural casts)

1. An act of throwing.
2. (fishing) An instance of throwing out a fishing line.
3. Something which has been thrown, dispersed etc.

   • a cast of scatter'd dust

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

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

   He’s in the cast of Oliver.

   The cast was praised for a fine performance.

6. The casting procedure.

   The men got into position for the cast, two at the ladle, two with long rods, all with heavy clothing.

7. An object made in a mould.

   The cast would need a great deal of machining to become a recognizable finished part.

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

   The doctor put a cast on the boy’s broken arm.

9. The mould used to make cast objects.

   A plaster cast was made from his face.

10. (hawking) The number of hawks (or occasionally other birds) cast off at one time; a pair.
    • 1596, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, VI.7:

      As when a cast of Faulcons make their flight / An an Herneshaw, that lyes aloft on wing […].

11. A squint.
    • 1847, John Churchill, A manual of the principles and practice of ophthalmic medicine and surgery, p. 389, paragraph 1968:

      The image of the affected eye is clearer and in consequence the diplopy more striking the less the cast of the eye; hence the double vision will be noticed by the patient before the misdirection of the eye attracts the attention of those about him.

    • 2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin 2012, p. 7:

      Arriving in Brittany, the Woodville exiles found a sallow young man, with dark hair curled in the shoulder-length fashion of the time and a penchant for expensively dyed black clothes, whose steady gaze was made more disconcerting by a cast in his left eye – such that while one eye looked at you, the other searched for you.

12. Visual appearance.

    Her features had a delicate cast to them.
13. The form of one's thoughts, mind etc.

    a cast of mind, a mental tendency.

    • 1894, Wilson Lloyd Bevan, Sir William Petty : A Study in English Economic Literature, p. 40:

      The cast of mind which prompted the plan was permanent, and in it are to be found both the strength and the weakness of Petty's character.

    • 1992, Hilary Mantel, A Place of Greater Safety, Harper Perennial 2007, p. 330:

      I have read all her articles and come to admire both her elegant turn of phrase and the noble cast of mind which inspires it; but never, I confess, did I look to see beauty and wit so perfectly united.

14. An animal, especially a horse, that is unable to rise without assistance.
15. Animal and insect remains which have been regurgitated by a bird.
16. A group of crabs.
17. A broadcast.

Derived terms

• castless
• plaster cast

Translations

Further reading

• cast at OneLook Dictionary Search
• cast in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• ACTs, ATCs, ATSC, Acts, CATs, CTAs, Cats, STCA, TACS, TCAS, TCAs, TSCA, acts, cats, scat

Catalan

Etymology

From Old Occitan [Term?], from Latin castus, possibly borrowed or semi-learned.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic, Central, Valencian) IPA^(key): /?kast/

Adjective

cast (feminine casta, masculine plural casts or castos, feminine plural castes)

1. chaste

Related terms

• castedat

Further reading

• “cast” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [k??st]
• Hyphenation: cast

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English cast.

Noun

cast m (plural casts, diminutive castje n)

1. cast (people performing a movie or play)

Synonyms

• rolbezetting
• rolverdeling

Related terms

• casten

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

cast

1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of casten
2. imperative of casten

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English cast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kast/
• Hyphenation: càst

Noun

cast m (invariable)

1. cast (group of actors performing together)

Manx

Adjective

cast

1. contorted, curly, curved
2. complex, intricate, many-sided
3. ticklish

Mutation

Derived terms

• castid
• castys
• neuchast
• yl-chast

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin castus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kast/

Adjective

cast m or n (feminine singular cast?, masculine plural ca?ti, feminine and neuter plural caste)

1. chaste, clean, pure

Declension

Synonyms

• pur

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kast/, [?kast?]

Noun

cast m (plural casts)

1. cast (group of actors)

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General Australian, General New Zealand, General South African) enPR: fäst, IPA^(key): /f??st/
• Rhymes: -??st
• (UK, US) enPR: f?st, IPA^(key): /fæst/
• Rhymes: -æst

Etymology 1

From Middle English fast, from Old English fæst (“fast, fixed, firm, secure; constant, steadfast; stiff, heavy, dense; obstinate, bound, costive; enclosed, closed, watertight; strong, fortified”), from Proto-Germanic *fastaz, *fastijaz, *fastuz (“fast, firm, secure”); see it for cognates and further etymology.

The development of “rapid” from an original sense of “secure” apparently happened first in the adverb and then transferred to the adjective; compare hard in expressions like “to run hard”. The original sense of “secure, firm” is now slightly archaic, but retained in the related fasten (“make secure”).

Adjective

fast (comparative faster, superlative fastest)

1. (dated) Firmly or securely fixed in place; stable. [from 9th c.]

   Synonyms: firm, immobile, secure, stable, stuck, tight

   Antonym: loose

   Hyponyms: bedfast, chairfast, colorfast, fail-fast, lightfast, shamefast, soothfast, steadfast

2. Firm against attack; fortified by nature or art; impregnable; strong.

   • out-lawes […] lurking in woods and fast places

   Synonyms: fortified, impenetrable

   Antonyms: penetrable, weak

3. (of people) Steadfast, with unwavering feeling. (Now mostly in set phrases like fast friend(s).) [from 10th c.]
4. Moving with great speed, or capable of doing so; swift, rapid. [from 14th c.]

   Synonyms: quick, rapid, speedy

   1. (nuclear physics, of a neutron) Having a kinetic energy between 1 million and 20 million electron volts; often used to describe the energy state of free neutrons at the moment of their release by a nuclear fission or nuclear fusion reaction (i.e., before the neutrons have been slowed down by anything).

5. Causing unusual rapidity of play or action.

6. (computing, of a piece of hardware) Able to transfer data in a short period of time.
7. Deep or sound (of sleep); fast asleep (of people). [16th-19th c.]
   • c. 1606, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act V, scene 1:

     Since his majesty went into the field, I have seen her rise from her bed, throw her nightgown upon her, unlock her closet, take forth paper, fold it, write upon’t, read it, afterwards seal it, and again return to bed; yet all this while in a most fast sleep.

   Synonyms: deep, sound

   Antonym: light

8. (of dyes or colours) Not running or fading when subjected to detrimental conditions such as wetness or intense light; permanent. [from 17th c.]

   Synonym: colour-fast

9. (obsolete) Tenacious; retentive.
   • 1625, Francis Bacon, Of Gardens

     Roses, damask and red, are fast flowers of their smells.

10. (dated) Having an extravagant lifestyle or immoral habits. [from 18th c.]
    • 1852, John Swaby, Physiology of the Opera (page 74)

      […] we remember once hearing a fast man suggest that they were evidently "nobs who had overdrawn the badger by driving fast cattle, and going it high" — the exact signification of which words we did not understand […]

    • 1979, Doug Fieger, "Good Girls Don't":

      You're alone with her at last / And you're waiting 'til you think the time is right / Cause you've heard she's pretty fast / And you're hoping that she'll give you some tonight.

12. Ahead of the correct time or schedule. [from 19th c.]

    Synonyms: ahead, (as in “the clock is gaining x minutes per hour/day”) gain

    Antonyms: behind, slow

13. (of photographic film) More sensitive to light than average. [from 20th c.]

Usage notes

In the context of nuclear reactors or weaponry, fission-spectrum neutrons (neutrons with the spectrum of energies produced by nuclear fission) are frequently referred to as fast neutrons, even though the majority of fission-spectrum neutrons have energies below the 1-million-electron-volt cutoff.

Synonyms

• (occurring or happening within a short time): quick, rapid, speedy, swift
• (capable of moving with great speed): see also Thesaurus:speedy
• (rapidly consents to sexual activity): easy, slutty; see also Thesaurus:promiscuous
• (firmly or securely fixed in place): see also Thesaurus:tight

Antonyms

• (occurring or happening within a short time): slow

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Adverb

fast (comparative faster, superlative fastest)

1. In a firm or secure manner, securely; in such a way as not to be moved; safe, sound [from 10th c.].
   • c. 1596-97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice, Act II, scene 5^[2]:

     Shylock:

     […] Do as I bid you; shut doors after you:

     Fast bind, fast find;

     A proverb never stale in thrifty mind.

   Synonyms: firmly, securely, tightly

   Antonym: loosely

2. (of sleeping) Deeply or soundly [from 13th c.].

   Synonym: deeply

   Antonym: lightly

3. Immediately following in place or time; close, very near [from 13th c.].

4. Quickly, with great speed; within a short time [from 13th c.].

   Synonyms: quickly, rapidly, speedily, swiftly

   Antonym: slowly

5. Ahead of the correct time or schedule.

   Synonym: ahead

   Antonym: behind

Translations

Noun

fast (plural fasts)

1. (Britain, rail transport) A train that calls at only some stations it passes between its origin and destination, typically just the principal stations

   Synonyms: express, express train, fast train

   Antonyms: local, slow train, stopper

Translations

Interjection

fast

1. (archery) Short for "stand fast", a warning not to pass between the arrow and the target

   Antonym: loose

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English fasten, from Old English fæstan (verb), from Proto-Germanic *fastijan?, derived from *fastuz, and thereby related to Etymology 1. Cognate with Dutch vasten, German fasten, Old Norse fasta, Gothic ???????????????????????? (fastan), Russian ???? (post). The noun is probably from Old Norse fasta.

Verb

fast (third-person singular simple present fasts, present participle fasting, simple past and past participle fasted)

1. (intransitive) To restrict one’s personal consumption, generally of food, but sometimes other things, in various manners (totally, temporally, by avoiding particular items), often for religious or medical reasons.

   Muslims fast during Ramadan and Catholics during Lent.

   • Thou didst fast and weep for the child.

Translations

Noun

fast (plural fasts)

1. The act or practice of abstaining from food or of eating very little food.

   Synonym: fasting

2. The period of time during which one abstains from or eats very little food.

Hyponyms

• dharna (India)

Derived terms

Translations

References

• fast in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• fast at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• AT&SF, ATFs, ATSF, FTAs, SAFT, TAFs, afts, fats, tafs

Danish

Etymology 1

From Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fast/, [fasd?]

Adjective

fast

1. firm
2. solid
3. tight
4. fixed
5. permanent
6. regular

Inflection

Derived terms

Etymology 2

From German fast (“almost, nearly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fast/, [fasd?]

Adverb

fast

1. (dated) almost, nearly

   Synonyms: næsten, omtrent

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa?st/, [fæ??sd?]

Verb

fast

1. imperative of faste

German

Etymology 1

From Old High German fasto, compare fest. Cognate with English adverb fast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fast/
• Homophone: fasst

Adverb

fast

1. almost; nearly

   Synonyms: beinahe, knapp, nahezu

   Antonym: ganz

2. (in a negative clause) hardly

   Synonym: kaum

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the main entry.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa?st/

Verb

fast

1. inflection of fasen:
   1. second/third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person plural present indicative/imperative

Further reading

• “fast” in Duden online
• “fast” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• Friedrich Kluge (1883) , “fast”, in John Francis Davis, transl., Etymological Dictionary of the German Language, published 1891

Middle English

Etymology

From Old English fæst.

Adverb

fast

1. fast (quickly)

Descendants

• English: fast

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

Adjective

fast (neuter singular fast, definite singular and plural faste)

1. solid, steady, firm, fixed, permanent

Derived terms

Etymology 2

Verb

fast

1. imperative of faste

References

• “fast” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology. Akin to English fast.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /f?st/

Adjective

fast (indefinite singular fast, definite singular and plural faste, comparative fastare, indefinite superlative fastast, definite superlative fastaste)

1. solid, steady, firm, fixed, permanent, stuck

Derived terms

References

• “fast” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Old Saxon

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *fast?, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

Adjective

fast

1. solid, firm

Declension

Romanian

Etymology

From French faste.

Noun

fast n (uncountable)

1. splendour, pomp

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Swedish faster, from Old Norse fastr, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

Pronunciation

Adjective

fast

1. caught (unable to move freely), captured

2. firm, fastened, unmoving

3. solid (as opposed to liquid)

4. although (short form of fastän)

Declension

Related terms

Adverb

fast

1. fixed, firmly, steadily (synonymous to the adjective)

2. almost, nearly

Conjunction

fast

1. although, even though

Related terms

Anagrams

• fats, saft, staf