Definition

Verb: - To search for something in an anxious, hurried, or somewhat desperate manner, often by trying many different options or sources without a clear plan.

Usage

This verb is typically used to describe the act of looking for something (like a solution, an answer, an object, or an idea) when one is feeling uncertain, under pressure, or in need. It implies a sense of urgency and a lack of a specific, ready answer. It is often followed by the preposition "for."

Examples

Advanced Usage

• "to cast around for something": This is the most common construction, specifying the object of the search.
  • The researchers cast around for a viable explanation for the anomalous data.
• "to cast around desperately/frantically": Adverbs can intensify the anxious nature of the search.
  • Lost in the woods, they cast around frantically for the trail.

Variants and Related Words

• Cast about: This is a direct synonym and can be used interchangeably with "cast around."
  • He cast about for a new job after the factory closed.

Synonyms

• Search frantically: To look for something in a panicked or hurried way.
• Scrabble: To struggle or grope around clumsily in search of something.
• Fish for: To try to get something (like information or compliments) in an indirect way, which shares the sense of an uncertain search.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Cast aside: To discard or reject something.
  • He cast aside his old notes. (This is listed separately as it has a different meaning from "cast around.")
• Cast out: To expel or drive someone/something away.
  • They were cast out of the community. (This is listed separately as it has a different meaning from "cast around.")

Related Idioms

• Grasp at straws: To be so desperate that you try even the most unlikely solutions. This idiom conveys a similar sense of anxious, unfocused searching as "cast around."
  • He was just grasping at straws when he suggested that idea.

Verb

1. search anxiously