backcast

noun

back·​cast

ˈbak-ˌkast

plural backcasts

1

British, dialectal : a relapse especially during convalescence : reversal

2

fly-fishing : a backward swinging of the lure preceding a forward cast

If there's room for backcasts, a fly rod and weighted streamers will work well.

—Gerald Almy, Washington Post, 9 Nov. 1979

… a salmon of between 25 and 30 pounds appeared near my fly and, having just begun a backcast, I snatched the fly from him.

—Nelson Bryant, New York Times, 12 Sept. 1983

Beginning fly-fishers can refine casting and presentation skills along shores of several lakes … where awkward backcasts won't get tangled in willows …

—Jeff Phillips, Sunset, May 1994

backcast intransitive verb

backcast; backcasting; backcasts

… there was no place to strip my line, let alone backcast, and I retreated to the tent, waiting for light.

—Peter Matthiessen, Harper's Magazine, 1 June 1993

Standing now, closing in, I waved the bamboo rod like a semaphore—backcasting once, twice—and then threw the line.

—John McPhee, New Yorker, 8 Feb. 2010

Word History

Etymology

back entry 3 + cast

First Known Use

1816, in the meaning defined at sense 2

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