1. trans. Throwing, throwing up; ejection, vomiting; calculation; swarming (of bees); arranging, etc.
1398. Trevisa, Barth. De P. R., XVII. cxxxiii. (1495), 690. Juys of leke to drynke ayenst castynge of blood.
1493. [see CAST v. 25 b].
1540. Mem. Ripon (Surtees), III. 289. Pamenntt of viij li. … for castynge and makyng of ye thyrd bell.
1542. Ludlow Churchw. Acc. (Camden Soc.), 11. The castynge of a new peise for the clocke.
1557. Recorde, Whetst., R iv b. Trust not to my castynge.
1615. Latham, Falconry (1633), 23. So great casting and long lasting maketh her to dye.
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 732 (J.). That were to make euery Casting of the Skin a New Birth.
1657. W. Coles, Adam in Eden, cxvi. 167. [Whortle-berries] … do somewhat bind the Belly, and stay castings and loathings.
1668. Markham, Way to Wealth, 77. In the time of casting [of bees].
1783. Ainsworth, Lat. Dict. (Morell), I. The casting of a deer’s head.
1801. Strutt, Sports & Past., II. ii. 68. Casting of the bar is … one part of an hero’s education.
1825. Hone, Every-day Bk., I. 172. A scheme to teach the casting of nativities.
1865. M. Arnold, Ess. Crit. (1875), 36. A new casting of that story irresistibly suggested itself to him.
1872. Youatt, Horse (ed. W. Watson), xxii. 456. We are no friends to the casting of horses, if it can possibly be prevented.
b. with adverbs.
1340. Ayenb., 15. Þe zixte kestinge out of the ilke boȝe is wyþstondinge.
1382. Wyclif, Heb. ii. 16. Casting up of yuel fame vpon thi glorie.
1549. Latimer, Serm., v. (Arb.), 157. A casting away of God.
1580. Hollyband, Treas. Fr. Tong, Delaissement, a forsaking, a casting off.
1742. R. Blair, Grave, 34.
| No fell Remorse, | |
| Nor anxious Castings up of what might be, | |
| Alarm’d his peaceful Bosom. |
1769. Wilkes’ Corr. (1805), I. 265. The casting up of the books … by the sheriffs.
1845–6. Trench, Huls. Lect., Ser. II. v. 220. A casting off of its old and wrinkled skin.
1871. Walford, Insurance Cycl., I. 460. Casting away of ships—an offence of very frequent occurrence.
2. intr. Also with adv.
1575. Turberv., Venerie, xl. 120. If they cannot make it out at the first casting about.
1690. Locke, Hum. Und., I. ii. § 10. 7. For all Reasoning is search, and casting about, and requires Pains and Application.
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, II. 247. Casting, the motion of falling off, so as to bring the direction of the wind on either side of the ship.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 221. Casting or Warping.—The bending of the surfaces of a piece of wood.
1856. Ruskin, Mod. Paint., III. IV. v. § 13. The casting about for sources of interest in senseless fiction.
3. concr. a. Any product of casting in a mold; an object in cast metal. b. The convoluted earth cast up by worms. c. Vomit; esp. the excrementitious substances cast up by hawks and the like; also in Falconry, ‘anything given to a hawk to cleanse and purge her gorge, whether it be flannel, thrummes, feathers, or such like’ (Latham, Falconry, 1615).
1388. Wyclif, 2 Pet. ii. 22. The hound turnede aȝen to his castyng.
c. 1430. Bk. Hawkyng, in Rel. Ant., I. 297. For an hawke that hath casting, and may not cast to make her cast.
1486. Bk. St. Albans, A iij b. Looke that hir castyng be plumage.
1558. Bp. Watson, Seven Sacram., x. 58. A dogge turneth back to eate agayne his castynge.
1565–78. Cooper, Thesaurus, s.v. Crusta, Covered with … the playster of a wall or rough casting.
1618. Beaum. & Fl., Loyal Subj., III. v. The onely casting for a crazie conscience.
1657. Rumsey, Org. Salutis, iv. (1659), 24. All manner of Hawks cast their castings every morning.
1704. Worlidge, Dict. Rust. et Urb., s.v. Gerfaulcon. Since they are crafty Birds … instead of Cotton, give ’em a Casting of Tow.
1869. Eng. Mech., 3 Dec., 274/2. The best castings are seldom or never made in an open mould.
1874. Wood, Nat. Hist., 282. In the ‘castings’ of this species have been found the remains of mice.
1881. Darwin, Veg. Mould, 9. Earth-worms abound…. Their castings may be seen in extraordinary numbers on commons.
1884. Law Times Rep., LI. 536/2. Means by which the owners of the foundry can remove their castings.
4. attrib. and in Comb., as casting-darts, -house, -line, -net, -shovel, -time, etc.; also casting-box, † (a.) a dice-box (obs.); (b.) a box used in taking a cast for stereotyping; † casting-counters pl., counters used in calculation or reckoning; † casting-sheet (see quot.); † casting-top, a peg-top.
1616. Holyday, Persius, 311. Cogging forth a die Out of the small-neck’d *casting-box.
1880. Print. Times, 15 March, 61/1. The matrix must be allowed to dry without the application of heat, or the blocks will split. The casting-box, slightly heated, is generally used in such cases.
a. 1529. Skelton, Vox populi. Thes are the vpstart gentylmen With *castinge cownteres and ther pen.
1612. T. James, Corrupt. Script., IV. 1. Vsing them indeede, as Merchants doe their casting counters, sometimes they stand for pounds, sometimes for shillings, sometimes for pence, sometimes for nothing.
1622. Bacon, Hen. VII., 199. They would not bring him in amongst the Kings Casting-Counters.
1883. Pall Mall Gaz., 30 June, 3/2. Morice’s bronze statue of the Republic … was transported last night … from the *casting-house.
1872. Echo, 30 Sept. Busy … renovating *casting lines, assorting hooks.
a. 1680. Butler, Rem. (1759), I. 52.
| Threw *Casting-nets, with equal Cunning at her [the moon] | |
| To catch her with, and pull her out o’th’ Water. |
1859. J. Lang, Wand. India, 310. A clear stream called the Ram Gunga, in which we caught a quantity of fish with a casting-net.
1644. Bury Wills (1850), 186. I doe give with my owne hands vnto Alice my wife, my *castinge sheet.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric. (1807), II. 299. To have the grain cleaned by means of the *casting-shovel.
1668. Markham, Way to Wealth, 77. Too little hives procure bees, in *casting time … to cast before they be ripe.
1657. W. Coles, Adam in Eden, clxix. 259. The fruit is … in forme like a *Casting-Top.
5. Casting-bottle, a bottle for sprinkling perfumed waters; a vinaigrette. So † casting-glass.
c. 1530. in Gutch, Coll. Cur., II. 342. A Cheyne and Howke for twoo casting Bottellis.
1544. Privy Purse Exp. P’cess Mary (1830), 144. Item my lady Buttler a Casting-glasse and a Smoke.
1602. B. Jonson, Ev. Man out Hum., IV. (N.). His Ciuet and his casting glasse, Have helpt him to a place amongst the rest.
1638. Ford, Fancies, I. ii. 127. Enter Secco, sprinkling his hat and face with a casting bottle.
1883. J. Payne, 1001 Nts., VI. 211. A casting-bottle full of rose water.
