cast off

cast off

1. verb To leave the dock, as of a ship and its crew. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cast" and "off." We won't be staying here for long—we cast off again at sunrise.
2. verb To remove, dispose of, or shed something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cast" and "off." Once you become a parent, you might decide to delegate more of your tasks—or cast off the title of CEO entirely. Mom told me I have to cast some things off before I'm allowed to add any more clothes to my closet. To attempt that daring jump on your bike, you'll need to cast off your fears.
3. verb To approximate how much space a manuscript will fill once typeset. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cast" and "off." You'll get a better idea of your novel's length in print once the publisher casts it off.
4. verb To remove the last row of stitches from the needle and complete the edge of a knitting project. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cast" and "off." Now that the blanket is long enough, the next step is to cast off.
5. verb To reject or renounce someone. A noun or pronoun can be used between "cast" and "off." The new dictator immediately cast off everyone in the government, replacing them with his personal supporters. Can you believe her boyfriend just cast her off like that, via text?
6. noun Someone or something that has been ignored, overlooked, or rejected. In this usage, the phrase is often hyphenated. Of course you're still my best friend, not some cast-off! I just haven't had time to call you this week, that's all. Once you sort through your closet, give me any cast-offs, and I'll sell them at the yard sale.
7. noun An approximation of how much space a manuscript will fill once typeset. In this usage, the phrase can be written as one word ("castoff"). A castoff will give you a better idea of your novel's length in print.
See also: cast, off
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

cast off (from something)

[for the crew of a boat or ship] to push away from the dock or pier; to begin the process of navigating a boat or ship. The crew cast off from the dock. It's time to cast off.
See also: cast, off
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.

cast off

1. Discard, reject, as in He cast off his clothes and jumped in the pool. This term was already used figuratively in Miles Coverdale's translation of the Bible (1535): "Thy mother ... that hath cast off her housebonds and her children" (Ezekiel 16:45).
2. Let go, set loose, as in He cast off the line and the boat drifted from the dock. [Second half of 1600s]
3. In knitting, to finish the last row of stitches, that is, take the stitches off the needle and form a selvage. For example, Your sweater is finished; I just have to cast off. [Late 1800s] Also see cast on, def. 1.
See also: cast, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.

cast off

v.
1. To discard or reject something: Each year the principal would cast off her role as disciplinarian and perform in the school play. The load was too heavy, so we cast it off and left it behind.
2. To let something go; set something loose: I cast off the bow line and let the boat drift in the current. The crew grabbed the lines and cast them off as the captain started the engines. The crew remained on the boat, ready to cast off at the first sign of trouble.
3. To estimate the space some manuscript will occupy when set into type: The publisher cast off the manuscript to see how long the book would be. We cast each chapter off separately in order to save time.
4. Chiefly British To secure some number of stitches in knitting and form an edge by lifting one stitch over the next: When the scarf was the correct length, I cast off. Cast off 12 stitches on the next row to make the neck edge. Make 5 stitches on the next row and cast them off.
See also: cast, off
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • cast up
  • cast down
  • cast back
  • cast as
  • cast (one) as (something)
  • cast aside
  • cast about
  • cast about for (something)
  • cast around
  • cast a glance
References in periodicals archive
In it, the author describes and illustrates methods of adjusting for drop at heel, cast off, toe in, and pitch without sectioning the wood.
Stock adjustments
I thought you rebroke what you just got your cast off for.
BARR
"These are songs of women who have cast off their veil, of electricity that brings light to the villages, of water that makes the desert recede, of the illiterate who have become literate....
Echoes of Lenin
on February 16, the USNS Fisher cast off her lines from the Port of Beaumont, Texas and headed down the Neches River toward the Gulf of Mexico, loaded with 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment equipment bound for Southwest Asia.
3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment deploys through the Port of Beaumont-Texas
That, regardless of our outward differences, we are all what religionists call "children of God?" But, being Humanists, we have cast off theism, haven't we?
Humanists not necessarily liberal
While one can offer arguments to support the contention that the studenchestvo as an autonomous group disappeared under Soviet power and that many of the characteristics traditionally associated with the "student movement" had vanished by the late 1920's, the evidence in the student press shows that students refused to cast off their self-designated roles of political critics, social commentators, peer adjudicators and unconventional dilettantes.
Builders and Deserters: Students, State and Community in Leningrad 1971-1941
Important features incude the Italian-made, self-compensating gas system for reliable duty and easy maintenance, a matched 22-inch rifled barrel with cantilever base, polished walnut Monte Carlo stock and Weatherby's special shim system to adjust cast off and sling swivel studs.
SAS Slug Gun: from Weatherby
Grace is a culprit, as it was in Woburn, Massachusetts, pretending asbestos fibers can be easily cast off by the human body, withholding vital information from the community, and spreading lethal asbestos byproducts throughout the town.
Fatal Deception: The Untold Story of Asbestos
(The video will be shown both at the Newhouse Center and in the Staten Island Mall; Ukeles clearly wants to stress connections between art, trash, and commerce.) In a less directly pedagogical engagement with ecological questions, Finnish artist Jussi Heikkila, who previously collected and exhibited materials cast off by trekking parties to Mount Everest, has created an installation that draws attention to the numerous bird species that make Fresh Kills their home.
REFUSE SALON
Three months after that, the Ninnis Glacier Tongue, a 1,450 sq-km slab of ice jutting into the sea, snapped off near the shoreline and cast off for warmer climes.
Big Bergs Ahoy!
But in order to cast off the blinders that hamstrung humanity throughout the Dark Ages, great men like Galileo, Gutenberg, and Magellan not only had to throw off the weight of the Past, but had to teach future generations to also throw off the weight of the Past, even though the Past now included great men like them.
Past, Be Gone
The segment carrying the Pizza Hut logo will be cast off and burn up in the atmosphere before it reaches orbit.
NO COMMENT
In truth, we are all still dealing with the pain of our history, trying to cast off the shackles of the past.
Where labels can be killers
The burly men of the soil from Devon cast off their overalls and posed in the buff for the camera - with farm implements, vegetables and animals for decency.
Farmers present bare facts on beefcake
Sales have rebounded around the world following the launch of the colorful iMac desktop computer and a growing consensus that the technologically superior pioneer has cast off its moribund performance.
Teacher's Pet