cast down

Meanings

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

present singular third person casts down · participle present casting down

transitiveTo make (a person) discouraged or dejected.
Disclose it not to the others, for none can strive with Fate and gain the victory, and it would but cast down their hearts. But it is fitting we be ready against evil hap.
1922, E[ric] R[ücker] Eddison, The Worm Ouroboros: A Romance, London: Jonathan Cape […], →OCLC, page 19
transitiveTo overthrow, to defeat or bring to ruin.
Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cast, down.

verblower someone's spirits; make downhearted

Broader

Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

From Middle English casten doun, casten adoun, equivalent to cast + down.

More words from Middle English

Polish powalać, powalić

Russian сверга́ть, све́ргнуть

Cite this entry

APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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