to cast about
Preserved but no longer current.
To deliberate, to consider, as, "I am casting about me how I am to meet the expenses." A sporting phrase. Dogs, when they have lost scent, "cast for it,'* Le. spread out and search m different directions to recover it.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to cast about” mean?
To deliberate, to consider, as, "I am casting about me how I am to meet the expenses." A sporting phrase. Dogs, when they have lost scent, "cast for it,'* Le. spread out and search m different directions to recover it.
Is “to cast about” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.