cast about

verb

cast about; casting about; casts about

intransitive verb

: to look around : seek
cast about for a seat

transitive verb

: to lay plans concerning : contrive
cast about how he was to go

Examples of cast about in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Starting your own publication always suggests a desire for connection and community, casting about for fellow-oddballs, willing a readership into existence. Hua Hsu, The New Yorker, 14 Feb. 2024 In this year's primary, voters have already cast about 205,000 ballots during an early voting period, which ran from Feb. 12-22. Ashley Lopez, NPR, 24 Feb. 2024 Southern Living spoke with the cast about their experience filming in the picture perfect destination of Dunedin, Florida. Rebecca Angel Baer, Southern Living, 18 Feb. 2024 The brain casts about for sense or sequence to tether itself to. Lynn Steger Strong, Los Angeles Times, 5 Feb. 2024 Some Republican voters were casting about for other possibilities in the wake of the midterm elections, and Ron DeSantis was a name many of them knew. Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 22 Jan. 2024 So many researchers are casting about for promising sustainable alternatives to thermoplastics. Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 21 Sep. 2023 Those who came to Haley’s events are still casting about for alternatives. Antonia Hitchens, The New Yorker, 8 Jan. 2024 Roughly 5 million votes were counted, meaning blacks cast about 1.45 million votes. Henry Olsen, National Review, 20 Dec. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cast about.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1575, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of cast about was in 1575

Dictionary Entries Near cast about

Cite this Entry

“Cast about.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cast%20about. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

cast about

verb
: to look around here and there : seek
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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