to cast a spell
37
7.4
- phrasal verb
- Literature
- When I was a little girl, a witch cast a spell on me.
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Watch on YouTubeAspen 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
110
7.9
To make something appear as if by magic
19
8.9
To use magic to protect, control, or influence someone
11
7.7
To put a magic spell on someone or something
5
6.0
To call up a spirit or make something appear as if by magic
2
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'.