Dictionary

cast off en · VERB

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /kæst ɒf/

Meanings

1. (transitive) To discard or reject something.
   • However, with the dainty volume my quondam friend sprang into fame. At the same time he cast off the chrysalis of a commonplace existence. 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
   • Mr. Christie, who as a presidential candidate has frequently suppressed his most pugilistic instincts, cast off any restraint and did what he does best: slice and slash. 2016 February 7, Michael Barbaro, “Once Impervious, Marco Rubio Is Diminished by a Caustic Chris Christie”, in The New York Times:
2. (ambitransitive) To let go (a cable or rope securing a vessel to a buoy, wharf, etc.) so that the vessel may make way.
3. (intransitive) To finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them securely from the needle.
4. (historical) To estimate the amount of space required by the type used for the given copy.
   • To conserve type, copy was "cast off"; that is, type needed for the initial pages was estimated so that the pages need not be composed in the same sequence as the copy. 2012, Christa Jansohn, Problems of Editing, page 102:

Forms

Relateds

offthrow · castoff · cast on

Synonyms

bind off

Translations (44)

es desamarrar (to let go) · sk odvrhnúť (discard or reject) · hu elold (to let go) · eo forigi (discard or reject) · pt descartar (discard or reject) · mi kamo (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · fi päätellä (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · hu sutba dob (discard or reject) · is fella af (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · sk zavrhnúť (discard or reject) · es rechazar (discard or reject) · es soltar las amarras (to let go) · es levantar amarras (to let go) · hu levetkőz (discard or reject) · hu ledob (discard or reject) · fr larguer les amarres (to let go) · nl trossen los (to let go) · hu eldob (discard or reject) · hu elvet (discard or reject) · es descartar (discard or reject) · da lukke af (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · mi huhu (to let go) · fr abandonner (discard or reject) · fr rabattre (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · hu elhajít (discard or reject) · nl afkanten (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · mi ākiri (discard or reject) · fi irrottaa (to let go) · ga caith lúb anuas (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · pt eliminar (discard or reject) · fr fermer (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · fi hylätä (discard or reject) · la repudiō (discard or reject) · fi päättää (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · de abketten (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · hu megszabadul (discard or reject) · de Leinen los (to let go) · pt rechaçar (discard or reject) · hu kiselejtez (discard or reject) · fo læsa av (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · hu levet (discard or reject) · gl rexeitar (discard or reject) · hu levesz (finish the last row of knitted stitches and remove them from the needle) · es eliminar (discard or reject)