casting lots
1
7.6
- noun
- Archaic
:
suerte
- I wonder if they have ever done a study to see if casting lots works any differently?
Examples
-
You can only have the truly "interchangeable parts" sort of practice: cast lots, just get a few names from the district, pray, and pick one at random if the pastors really are interchangeable.
Blog text (4) -
They parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
Blog text (12) -
I've made many assumptions about how casting lots would be applied.
Blog text (4) -
Their formal positions are made through two procedures: nominating and casting lots.
Academic text (1992) -
The Apostles cast lots to fill Judas' ministry.
Blog text (4) -
It says, "They parted my garment amongst them and upon my vesture, they cast lots."
-
The false witnesses will rise up against you, and the soldiers who put the purple cloak upon Him, set the crown of thorns upon His head, crucified Him on Golgotha, and cast lots for His tunic.
Academic text (1991) -
They cast lots to decide who would go first in the game.
-
The group decided to cast lots to determine which charity would receive their donation.
-
During the meeting, they cast lots to see who would present their ideas first.
Synonyms
115
4.1
An act of choosing someone or something by chance
4
3.6
A way to decide by chance using marked items like straws
Choosing who gets something by chance, for example by drawing lots
Choosing people or making decisions by drawing names from a hat
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly built from 'cast' (to throw or determine by lot) + 'lots' (items drawn at random), so the action 'casting lots' transparently describes deciding by drawing items. This compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows straightforward English usage, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents will readily infer the meaning.
Etymology
Casting lots comes from an old way of choosing: people would throw or draw small marked items called lots, like stones or straws, to pick someone or decide something. That's why it now means 'making a decision by chance'.