to cast a spell
38
7.4
- phrasal verb
- Literature
:
lanzar un hechizo
- When I was a little girl, a witch cast a spell on me.
Aspen not only attempts to cast a spell on tenor but succeeds in doing so.
- Aspen not only attempts to cast a spell on tenor but succeeds in doing so.
- And there's this interesting scene where he tries to cast a spell on her quite early on, impatient with wooing her massive physical indifference.
- You just sound like you casted a spell on something that's a very Harry Potter flavor.
- It's towards when you've gotten them, you've cast a spell and they're hooked a little bit toward OK, so in the beginning you're respecting all of that.
Examples
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Come on, just cast a spell, any spell.
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In a moment of despair she cast a spell upon herself that she would never again feel the agony of love.
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Why not just cast a spell or something?
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I can cast a spell.
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You really can cast a spell that makes all those people vote for you?
Fiction book (1998) -
I shall cast a spell on thee!
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We'll just cast a spell to make him less of a garbage person.
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Don't you go casting a spell on her.
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I believe somebody's casting a spell on the students.
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The magician will cast a spell to make the flowers bloom instantly.
Synonyms
126
7.9
To make something appear as if by magic
15
8.9
To use magic to protect, control, or influence someone
6
6.0
To call up a spirit or make something appear as if by magic
5
7.7
To put a magic spell on someone or something
3
8.2
Use magic words or actions to control someone
Antonyms
How Powerful
Surface Forms
Morphology
Both constituents directly contribute to the overall meaning: 'spell' denotes an enchantment and 'cast' can mean to send or produce, so 'cast a spell' is transparently interpreted as performing or sending a spell. This composition follows a common cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., Spanish 'lanzar un hechizo', French 'lancer un sort'), so a B1 learner who knows the words will likely infer the meaning.
Etymology
Cast a spell comes from an older meaning of cast that meant 'to throw'. People imagined magicians 'throwing' words or a net over someone to change or control them, so cast a spell now means 'to use magic words or actions'.