different between tack vs cast

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /tæk/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /tak/
• Rhymes: -æk

Etymology 1

From Middle English tak, takke (“hook; staple; nail”), from Old Northern French taque (“nail, pin, peg”), probably from a Germanic source, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *takkô (“tip; point; protrusion; prong; tine; jag; spike; twig”), from Proto-Indo-European *dHg?n-, *déHg?- (“to pinch; tear; rip; fray”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Takke (“bough; branch; twig”), West Frisian takke (“branch”), tûk (“branch, smart, sharp”), Dutch tak (“twig; branch; limb”), German Zacke (“jag; prong; spike; tooth; peak”).

Noun

tack (countable and uncountable, plural tacks)

1. A small nail with a flat head.
   • 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track

     A tough test for even the strongest climber, it was new to the Tour de France this year, but its debut will be remembered for the wrong reasons after one of those spectators scattered carpet tacks on the road and induced around 30 punctures among the group of riders including Bradley Wiggins, the Tour's overall leader, and his chief rivals.

2. A thumbtack.
3. (sewing) A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.
4. (nautical) The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.
5. (nautical) A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind. See also reach, gybe.
6. A direction or course of action, especially a new one.
   • 1612, Michael Drayton, Poly-Olbion song 11 p. 172[1]:

     So stoutly held to tack by those near North-wales men;

   • 1922 , James Joyce, Ulysses, chapter V:^[2]

     Maud Gonne’s letter about taking them off O’Connell street at night: disgrace to our Irish capital. Griffith’s paper is on the same tack now: an army rotten with venereal disease: overseas or halfseasover empire.

   • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 637:

     I thought that my refusing Barnard would alienate Botha, and decided that such a tack was too risky.

7. (nautical) The maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the wind changes from one side to the other.
8. (nautical) The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board.
9. (nautical) A rope used to hold in place the foremost lower corners of the courses when the vessel is close-hauled; also, a rope employed to pull the lower corner of a studding sail to the boom.
10. Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack.
11. (manufacturing, construction, chemistry) The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties.

    The laminate adhesive has very aggressive tack and is hard to move once in place.

12. Food generally; fare, especially of the bread kind.

    hardtack; soft tack

    • 1913, D. H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers

      But if a woman's got nothing but her fair fame to feed on, why, it's thin tack, and a donkey would die of it!

13. That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix.

    • Some tacks had been made to money bills in King Charles's time.
14. (law, Scotland) A contract by which the use of a thing is set, or let, for hire; a lease.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Burrill to this entry?)

    • 1885: The Crofter in History by Lord Colin Campbell

      In the Breadalbane papers, for example, there is a "tack" which was given by Sir John Campbell of Glenurchy to his "weil belouit" servant John M'Conoquhy V'Gregour, in the year 1530.

15. (obsolete) Confidence; reliance.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

Synonyms

• (nautical maneuver): coming about

Hyponyms

• (nail-like object for affixing thin things): thumbtack

Derived terms

• Blu-Tack
• hardtack
• thumbtack

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English takken (“to attach; nail”), from the noun (see above).

Verb

tack (third-person singular simple present tacks, present participle tacking, simple past and past participle tacked)

1. To nail with a tack (small nail with a flat head).
3. To sew/stich with a tack (loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth).
4. (nautical) To maneuver a sailing vessel so that its bow turns through the wind, i.e. the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other.
5. To add something as an extra item.

   to tack (something) onto (something)

6. Often paired with "up", to place the tack on a horse.

Synonyms

• (nautical: to turn the bow through the wind): to change tack

Antonyms

• (nautical: to turn the stern through the wind): to wear

Translations

Related terms

• tacky

See also

• Tack (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Blu-Tack

Etymology 3

From an old or dialectal form of French tache. See techy.

Noun

tack (plural tacks)

1. A stain; a tache.
2. (obsolete) A peculiar flavour or taint.

   a musty tack

Etymology 4

Noun

tack (uncountable)

1. (colloquial) That which is tacky; something cheap and gaudy.

References

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

Anagrams

• ATCK, Tkac

Scots

Noun

tack (plural tacks)

1. Lease, tenancy
2. The period of such a contract
3. A leasehold; especially, the tenure of a land or a farm.

Swedish

Etymology

From Old Norse þ?kk, from Proto-Germanic *þank?, *þankaz. Cognates include English thank, German Dank, Danish tak and Icelandic and Norwegian takk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tak/

Interjection

tack

1. thanks, please

Noun

tack n

1. a thank; a word which shows gratitude

Declension

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)