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Glite Dictionary
to cast on

to cast on

1 6.9
To make the first row of stitches on a needle when you start knitting
  • phrasal verb
  • /kæst ɑn/
  • Jargon
translation icon : montar
  • Before knitting her sweater, she had to cast on the required number of stitches onto the needle.

Examples

  • Needles were obtained, and I rushed home and cast on within the hour.

    Blog text (23)

  • To start her knitting project, she carefully cast on 30 stitches before beginning the first row.

  • After watching the tutorial, he finally learned how to cast on properly to make his own scarf.

Antonyms

to cast off
  • Jargon
1 8.2

To finish the last row of knitting so the stitches do not come undone

Surface Forms

cast on infinitive
cast on past
cast on past participle
casting on present participle
casts on third person singular

Morphology

cast + on

The meaning 'to make the first row of stitches when beginning to knit' is a specialized, technical knitting sense that does not follow from the common senses of 'cast' (e.g. to throw or shape) plus the preposition 'on'. The phrase functions as craft-specific vocabulary/terminology and is not predictably compositional for a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words, so prior exposure is required.

Etymology

The knitting verb cast on comes from the simple action of placing the first loops of yarn onto a needle: you really put or 'cast' each stitch on the needle. So, cast on means 'to make the first row of stitches'.