*casting*

n. 1. The act of one who casts or throws, as in fishing. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The act or process of making casts or impressions, or of shaping metal or plaster in a mold; the act or the process of pouring molten metal into a mold. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is cast in a mold; esp. the mass of metal so cast; as, a casting in iron; bronze casting. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The warping of a board. Brande & C. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. The act of casting off, or that which is cast off, as skin, feathers, excrement, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

Casting of draperies, the proper distribution of the folds of garments, in painting and sculpture. --
Casting line (Fishing), the leader; also, sometimes applied to the long reel line. --
Casting net, a net which is cast and drawn, in distinction from a net that is set and left. --
Casting voice,
Casting vote, the decisive vote of a presiding officer, when the votes of the assembly or house are equally divided. “When there was an equal vote, the governor had the casting voice.” B. Trumbull. --
Casting weight, a weight that turns a balance when exactly poised. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The process of calculating and predicting future events, usually based on extrapolation from past experience, and with varying degress of uncertainty.
Syn. -- prediction, foretelling. [ WordNet 1.5 +PJC ]

[ Perh. fr. L. mitis mild. ] A process, invented by P. Ostberg, for producing malleable iron castings by melting wrought iron, to which from 0.05 to 0.1 per cent of aluminum is added to lower the melting point, usually in a petroleum furnace, keeping the molten metal at the bubbling point until it becomes quiet, and then pouring the molten metal into a mold lined with a special mixture consisting essentially of molasses and ground burnt fire clay; also, a casting made by this process; -- called also wrought-iron casting. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]