casting-weight 
A man's true merit 'tis not hard to find; 
But each man's secret standard in his mind, 
That catting-weight pride adds to emptiness, 
Tills, wlm ran gratify, for who can guess ? 
Pope., Prol. to Satires, 1. 177. 
cast-iron (kast ' I " era), n. and . I. n. Iron 
which has been cast, that is, melted and run into 
a mold in which it assumes the desired form. 
Most cast-iron is pig-iron which lias been remelted in a 
cupola furnace; but some castings for special purposes 
are made by remitting in ft reverberator)' furnace, and 
occasionally direct from the blast-furnace. The iron made 
from ore by smelting in the blast-furnace is in fact cast- 
iron and its properties are not altered by remelting, but 
it is commonly known as pig-iron, or simply as pig. See 
foundrii and iY/i, 
II. 'a. 1. Made of cast-iron: as, a cast-iron 
pot. 2. Having the qualities of or resembling 
cast-iron; hence, inflexible; unyielding: as, a 
cast-iron rule. 
His [Spenser's] fine ear, abhorrent of barbarous disso- 
nance, . . . made possible the transition from the cast- 
iron stiffness of "1'errex and Porrex" to the Damascus 
pliancy of Fletcher and Shakespeare. 
Lnmll, N. A. Rev., CXX. 361. 
cast-knitting (kast'nit'ing), n. That kind of 
knitting in which the needle is passed through 
the mesh from the inside of the piece of hosiery 
which is being knitted, and the yarn with 
which the new mesh is made is held on the 
outside. 
castle (kas'l), n. [< ME. castle, castel, a castle, 
village, < AS. castel, a village, = D. kasteel = 
Icel. kastali = Sw. Tcastell = Dan. kastcl = OF. 
castel, chastel, F. castel, chdteau (> E. chateau) 
= Pr. castelh = Cat. eastell = Sp. Castillo = Pg. 
It. castello, < L. eastellum, a castle, fort, citadel, 
stronghold, dim. of castrum, a castle, fort, for- 
tified place, usually in pi. castra, an encamp- 
ment, a camp, a military station, a town of 
military origin (> AS. ceaster: see -caster and 
Chester); connected with casa, a cottage, hut: 
see casa, casino, cassock, etc.] 1. A building, 
or series of connected buildings, fortified for 
defense against an enemy; a fortified resi- 
dence ; a fortress. Castles, in the sense of fortified 
residences, were an outgrowth or institution of feudalism, 
and were first brought to a high pitch of strength and 
completeness by the Normans. In England there were few 
850 
Our castle's strength 
Will laugh a siege to scorn. 
Shak., Macbeth, v. 5. 
The house of every one Is to him as his autlr and for- 
tress, as well for defence against injury and violence as 
for his repose. 
Sir E. Coke, Reports, Semayne's Case, v. fol. 91a. 
castor 
la ni/."] 1. The government of a castle; tenure 
of a castle. 
The said Robert and his heirs ... are chief banner- 
bearers of London in fee, for thf iw.s/r?/ // which he and 
his ancestors have, of Jiaynard's castle in the said city. 
Blount, Ancient Tenures, p. 116. 
2. A demain or fief maintaining a castle. 
castle-Stead (kas'1-sted), n. A castle and the 
and the joints between the stones of colors dif- 
fercnt from that of the wall, they are said to be masoned 
or windowed yules, or, or the like. When the windows 
are shown of the color of the field, the castle is said to be 
:as'l-toun), 
castel, castle, + tun, town.] The hamlet close 
by or under the walls or protection of a castle: 
hence Castletown, Castleton, the names of sev- 
eral towns and villages in Great Britain and 
tion'ed in the blazon." Ireland. 
3. The house or mansion of a person of rank or castle-ward (kas'1-ward), n. Same as cnstle- 
wealth : somewhat vaguely applied, but usually t/iird. 
to a large and more or less imposing building. castlewick (kas'1-wik), . The territory at- 
4. A piece made in the form of a castle, donjon, tached to or under the jurisdiction of a castle, 
or tower, used iu the game of chess; the rook, castlingt (kast'ling), n. and . [< cast 1 , v., I., 
5. A kind of helmet. 6. Naut., a kind of 16, + dim. -ling 1 .'] I. n. An abortion, 
fighting-tower formerly erected on war-galleys, We should rather rely on the urine of a eastlimf* blad- 
etc., near the bow and stern, and called re- der. Sir T. Browne, Vulg. Err. 
speetively forecastle tmd aftcastle. See cut un- H. o. Abortive. S. Sutler, Hudibras. 
der cadenas A castle In the air, or In Spain, a Castnia (kast'iii-a), w. [NL. (Fabricius, 1807).] 
visionary project ; a vague imagination of possible wealth, ff ne typical genii's of moths of the family Cast- 
fame, happiness, or the like ; a day-dream. (See below.) 
To build castles in Spain, to build castles In the air. " 
(See below.) Theoriginof this phrase(which is traced back Castman (kast'm-an), fl. and H. [< NL. Cast- 
iu French literature to the thirteenth century, and in Eng- wi'a -4- -.] I. a. Pertaining to or having the 
lisli to the fourteenth) is doubtful. It has been attributed characters of the genus Caxlii in. 
to the boasting by Spanish adventurers in France of their TT 4 mprnViPF nf tlim>mis r/iin or fnm 
lordlyresidences.whichexistedonlyintheirimaginations; **; " A 
and less probably to a supposed prohibition at some time lly (.OntntMte. 
against the erection of fortifications in Spain. ^Littre^thinks Castniidse (kast-ni'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Castnia 
+ -ir/a;.] A fa,mily of Lepidoptera, comprising 
. 
the idea is simply that of an imaginary castle in any foreign 
country, other names having been similarly used, and that 
of Spain prevailing as most familiar ; k> which may be 
added that its real origin is probably to be found in the no- 
tion, always prevalent, of the attainment of great wealth 
through emigration or foreign adventure. 
Thou shalt make cartels thanne in Spaiine, 
And dreme of joye, alle but in vayne. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 2578. 
To build (or maket) castles In the air. to form schemes 
that have no practical foundation ; entertain projects that I f IKS. 
cannot be carried out; indulge, either seriously or in mere CastnioldeS (kast-m-oi dez), n, pi. 
the moths which connect the sphinxes with 
the butterflies, typified by the genus Castnia. 
They are sometimes called moth-sphinxes. 
castnioid (kast'ni-oid), a. and n. [< Castnia + 
-owi.] I. . Resembling a moth of the genus 
Castnia: as, a castnioid butterfly. 
II. H. A hesperian butterfly of the tribe 
Castle of Coucy, Aisne, France. ( From Viollet-le-Duc's " Diet, de 
1' Architecture.") 
or no castles, properly speaking, till the time of William 
the Conqueror, after which a great many were constructed 
on the Norman model. At first the donjon or keep was the 
only part of the castle of great strength, and the other 
buildings in connection with it were of a more or less tem- 
porary nature. In the thirteenth century, however, the de- 
sign of the castle became more fully developed, and the keep 
formed only the central part of a group of buildings, all 
supporting one another, and mutually contributing to the 
strength and commodiousness of the whole. The cut 
shows the castle of Coucy, near Laon, France, built in the 
thirteenth century. In the foreground is the outer bailey 
or esplanade, fortified, and containing a chapel, stables, and 
other buildings. The outer entrance to this was formed 
by a barbican or antemural (see plan under antemural). a 
is the foss, 20 yards broad ; b, the gate, approached by 
two swing-bridges, defended by two guard-rooms, and hav- 
ing a double portcullis within, giving entrance to vaulted 
guard-rooms with sleeping-apartments, etc., above, c ; d, 
inner bailey or courtyard ; e, covered buildings for the 
men defending the walls or curtains ; /, apartments for 
the family, entered by the grand staircase, g; h, great 
hall, with storerooms and vaults below ; i, donjon or keep 
(the chapel is seen behind it), the strongest part of the 
castle, with walls of immense thickness, suited to form 
the last retreat of the garrison. At * is a postern lead- 
ing from the donjon and communicating with an outer 
postern, drawbridge, etc. ; I, m, n, o are the chief towers 
flanking the outer walls. 
At the foot of the Mount Syon is a faire Castelle and a 
stronz, that the Soudan leet make. 
Mamie Mle, Travels, p. 92. 
play of the imagination, in pleasing day-dreams, especial 
ly of great wealth or power. 
When I build castles in the aire. 
Burton, Anat. of Mel., Author's Abstract. 
I build great castles in the skies, 
. . . rear'd and raz'd yet without hands. 
E. of Stirling, Sonnets, vi. 
We had no right to build castles in the air without any 
material for building, and have no ground for complaint 
when the airy fabric tumbles about our ears. 
H. JV. Osunham, Short Studies, p. 21. 
= Syn. 1. See fortification. 
castle (kas'l), v. i. ; pret. and pp. castled, ppr. 
castling. [< castle, n., 4.] In chess, to move 
the king from his own square two squares to 
the right or left, and bring the rook or castle 
to the square the king has passed over. Castling 
is allowed only when neither the king nor the castle has 
moved, when there is no piece between them, and when 
the king is not in check and does not, in castling, move 
over or to a square which is attacked by an enemy's man, 
that is, through or into check. 
castle-builder (kas'l-bil"der), . 1. One 
who builds castles. 2. Especially, one who 
builds castles in the air; a visionary; a day- 
dreamer. 
I ... am one of that species of men who are properly 
denominated castle-builders, who scorn to be beholden lit 
the earth for a foundation. Steele, Spectator, No. 167. 
castle-building (kas'l-bil'ding), n. 1. The act 
of building castles. 2. Especially, building 
castles in the air ; day-dreaming. 
The pleasant languor, the dreamy tranquillity, the airy 
Castnia + -oides.~] A tribe of hesperian lepi- 
dopterous insects combining in some respects 
the characters both of moths and of butterflies, 
Yucca-borer { 
larged ; *, b. b, eggs, natural size : c , larva, just hatched 
(line shows natural size] ; d, female moth. 
intensive, passionate lifi 
R. F. Burton, El-Medinah, p. 23. 
castled (kas'ld), a. [< castle + -erf2.] Fur- 
nished with a castle or castles. 
but justly regarded as having most affinities 
with the latter. They are characterized by a small 
head, a very large abdomen, unarmed front tibia;, and 
very small spurs of the middle and hind tibiae. The tribe 
is typified by the yucca-borer, Meftalhymu* yuccee, for- 
merlv Castnia vut&v, and includes the genus jgiale. 
Iguor, uie ureaiuy i r;iM<imiin.* . me ttnj lc ' J V* , o 
ch in Asia stand in lieu of the vigorous, Castock (kas'tok), n. Same as CUStOCK. 
ite life of Europe. cast-Off 1 (kast'of), a. [< cast 1 (pp.) + off.'] 
Laid aside; rejected: as, cast-off livery. 
We are gathering up the old cast-off clothes of others 
intellectually above us, it is said. 
The caMed crag of Drachenfels ' S ' Germa Culture > * 154 ' 
Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine. cast-Off 2 (kast'of), . [< cast 1 (inf.) + off.~\ 1. 
Byron, Childe Harold, iii. BR. j u fi rca rms, the outward bend of a gun-stock, 
castle-gartht (kas'l-garth), n. The precincts by which the line of sight is brought inward 
of a castle; a castle-yard. to meet the eye more readily. 2. In printing, 
castle-guard (kas'1-gard), . 1. The guard the computation of the particular space to be 
which defends a castle. 2. A feudal charge allowed for each column or division of a table, 
or duty due from a tenant to his lord, payable a piece of music, or the like: as, to pass the 
either in personal service in defending the cast-off (that is, to communicate to other corn- 
lord's castle or by commutations in money in positors the result of such a computation), 
certain cases. Hence 3. The tenure or hold castont, n. An obsolete form of capstan. 
which such a tenant had on the land granted castor 1 (kas'tor), n. and a. [= F. Sp. Pg. cas- 
him by his lord. 4. The circuit around a cas- tor = It. castro, castore, < L. castor, a beaver 
tie subject to taxation for its maintenance. 
Also called castle-icard. 
castlery, castelryt (kas'l-ri, -tel-ri), n.; pi. 
castleries, castelriesi (-riz). [< OF. eastellerie, < 
ML. caftellaria, equiv. to castellania : see castel- 
(for which the native L. is fiber = E. bearer 1 ), < 
Or. Kaarup, a beaver, a word of Eastern origin : 
cf. Skt. kastiiri, > Hind. Malay kasturi, musk; 
Pers. khdz, a beaver.] I. n. 1. A beaver. 2. 
[>/).] Among French Canadians, one of the 
