Part 107

2. To cut or take out; esp. to remove anything erroneous, or objectionable from, as the obscene parts of a writing; to expurgate.

My . . . correspondent . . . has sent me the following letter, which I have castrated in some places. Spectator.

Cas*tra"tion (?), n. [L. castratio; cf. F. castration.] The act of castrating.

||Cas*tra"to (?), n. [L., properly p. p. of castrare. See Castrate.] A male person castrated for the purpose of improving his voice for singing; an artificial, or male, soprano. Swift.

Cas"trel (?), n. [Cf. F. crÚcerelle, cristel, OF. crecel, cercele. Cf. Kestrel.] (Zo÷l.) See Kestrel.

Cas*tren"sial (?), a. [L. castrensis, fr. castra camp.] Belonging to a camp. Sir T. Browne.

Cas*tren"sian (?), a. Castrensial. [R.]

Cast" steel` (?). See Cast steel, under Steel.

Cas"u*al (?), a. [OE. casuel, F. casuel, fr. L. casualis, fr. casus fall, accident, fr. cadere to fall. See Case.] 1. Happening or coming to pass without design, and without being foreseen or expected; accidental; fortuitous; coming by chance.

Casual breaks, in the general system. W. Irving.

2. Coming without regularity; occasional; incidental; as, casual expenses.

A constant habit, rather than a casual gesture. Hawthorne.

Syn. -- Accidental; fortutious; incidental; occasional; contingent; unforeseen. See Accidental.

Cas"u*al, n. One who receives relief for a night in a parish to which he does not belong; a vagrant.

Cas"u*al*ism (?), n. The doctrine that all things exist or are controlled by chance.

Cas"u*al*ist, n. One who believes in casualism.

Cas"u*al*ly, adv. Without design; accidentally; fortuitously; by chance; occasionally.

Cas"u*al*ness, n. The quality of being casual.

Cas"u*al*ty (?), n.; pl. Casualties (#). [F. casualitÚ, LL. casualitas.] 1. That which comes without design or without being foreseen; contingency.

Losses that befall them by mere casualty. Sir W. Raleigh.

2. Any injury of the body from accident; hence, death, or other misfortune, occasioned by an accident; as, an unhappy casualty.

3. pl. (Mil. & Naval) Numerical loss caused by death, wounds, discharge, or desertion.

Casualty ward, A ward in a hospital devoted to the treatment of injuries received by accident.

Syn. -- Accident; contingency; fortuity; misfortune.

||Cas`u*a*ri"na (?), n. [NL., supposed to be named from the resemblance of the twigs to the feathers of the cassowary, of the genus Casuarius.] (Bot.) A genus of leafless trees or shrubs, with drooping branchlets of a rushlike appearance, mostly natives of Australia. Some of them are large, producing hard and heavy timber of excellent quality, called beefwood from its color.

Cas"u*ist (?), n. [L. casus fall, case; cf. F. casuiste. See Casual.] One who is skilled in, or given to, casuistry.

The judment of any casuist or learned divine concerning the state of a man's soul, is not sufficient to give him confidence. South.

Cas"u*ist, v. i. To play the casuist. Milton.