cast about
"cast-about" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cast about” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To try to find; look around; search.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cast-about · cast about · English
cast about · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cast about |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cast about” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cast about is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for cast about in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cast (“to try”) + about, perhaps dissimulated from becast (“to cast about, plot”). Compare also Old English costian (“to try, examine”). More at cast, costen. The correct English form is cast about, spelled C-A-S-T- -A-B-O-U-T.
Definition
- 1To try to find; look around; search.
- 2To plan; plot; contrive.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how cast about appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The hounds cast about for the fox's trail.
Etymology
From cast (“to try”) + about, perhaps dissimulated from becast (“to cast about, plot”). Compare also Old English costian (“to try, examine”). More at cast, costen.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.