cast adrift

verb

To abandon a ship at sea

“We cast adrift the burning sloop to await its fate.”

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Meanings

verbcast adrift (third-person singular simple present casts adrift, present participle casting adrift, simple past and past participle cast adrift)

present singular third person casts adrift · participle present casting adrift

  1. transitiveTo abandon a ship at sea

    We cast adrift the burning sloop to await its fate.

  2. transitiveTo place a person in a ship's boat or raft and leave them

    Captain Bligh and some loyal crewmen were cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific.

Cite this entry
APA

cast adrift. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cast%20adrift

MLA

“cast adrift.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cast%20adrift. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cast adrift,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cast%20adrift.

Source: cast adrift on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.