cast vs shy

cast

noun
  • An act of throwing. 

  • Visual appearance. 

  • An object made in a mould. 

  • A supportive and immobilising device used to help mend broken bones. 

  • A squint. 

  • Animal and insect remains which have been regurgitated by a bird. 

  • The form of one's thoughts, mind etc. 

  • The collective group of actors performing a play or production together. Contrasted with crew. 

  • A small mass of earth "thrown off" or excreted by a worm. 

  • The number of hawks (or occasionally other birds) cast off at one time; a pair. 

  • Something which has been thrown, dispersed etc. 

  • The casting procedure. 

  • The mould used to make cast objects. 

  • A group of crabs. 

  • An instance of throwing out a fishing line. 

verb
  • To heave the lead and line in order to ascertain the depth of water. 

  • To consider; to turn or revolve in the mind; to plan. 

  • To bring the bows of a sailing ship on to the required tack just as the anchor is weighed by use of the headsail; to bring (a ship) round. 

  • Of dogs, hunters: to spread out and search for a scent. 

  • To throw forward (a fishing line, net etc.) into the sea. 

  • To throw off (the skin) as a process of growth; to shed the hair or fur of the coat. 

  • To turn (the balance or scale); to overbalance; hence, to make preponderate; to decide. 

  • To throw. 

  • To throw down or aside. 

  • To deposit (a ballot or voting paper); to formally register (one's vote). 

  • To calculate the astrological value of (a horoscope, birth etc.). 

  • To throw (light etc.) on or upon something, or in a given direction. 

  • To open a circle in order to begin a spell or meeting of witches. 

  • To broadcast (video) over the Internet or a local network, especially to one's television. 

  • To remove, take off (clothes). 

  • To direct (one's eyes, gaze etc.). 

  • To shape (molten metal etc.) by pouring into a mould; to make (an object) in such a way. 

  • To perform, bring forth (a magical spell or enchantment). 

  • To twist or warp (of fabric, timber etc.). 

  • To set (a bone etc.) in a cast. 

  • To assign (a role in a play or performance). 

  • To assign a role in a play or performance to (an actor). 

  • To change a variable type from, for example, integer to real, or integer to text. 

adj
  • Of an animal, such as a horse or sheep: Lying in a position from which it cannot rise on its own. 

shy

noun
  • An act of throwing. 

  • In the Eton College wall game, a point scored by lifting the ball against the wall in the calx. 

  • In soccer, a throw-in from the sidelines, using two hands above the head. In shinty, the act of tossing the ball above the head and hitting it with the shaft of the caman to bring it back into play after it has been hit out of the field. 

  • A place for throwing. 

  • A sudden start aside, as by a horse. 

adj
  • Easily frightened; timid. 

  • Embarrassed. 

  • Cautious; wary; suspicious. 

  • Reserved; disinclined to familiar approach. 

  • Short, insufficient or less than. 

verb
  • To avoid due to caution, embarrassment or timidness. 

  • (transitive) or (intransitive) To throw a ball with two hands above the head, especially when it has crossed the side lines in a football (soccer) match. To hit the ball back into play from the sidelines in a shinty match. 

  • To jump back in fear. 

  • To throw sideways with a jerk; to fling. 

How often have the words cast and shy occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )