Casting vote

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Vote \Vote\, n. [L. votum a vow, wish, will, fr. vovere, votum,
   to vow: cf. F. vote. See {Vow}.]
   [1913 Webster]
   1. An ardent wish or desire; a vow; a prayer. [Obs.]
      --Massinger.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. A wish, choice, or opinion, of a person or a body of
      persons, expressed in some received and authorized way;
      the expression of a wish, desire, will, preference, or
      choice, in regard to any measure proposed, in which the
      person voting has an interest in common with others,
      either in electing a person to office, or in passing laws,
      rules, regulations, etc.; suffrage.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That by means of which will or preference is expressed in
      elections, or in deciding propositions; voice; a ballot; a
      ticket; as, a written vote.
      [1913 Webster]

            The freeman casting with unpurchased hand
            The vote that shakes the turrets of the land.
                                                  --Holmes.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. Expression of judgment or will by a majority; legal
      decision by some expression of the minds of a number; as,
      the vote was unanimous; a vote of confidence.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. Votes, collectively; as, the Tory vote; the labor vote.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Casting vote}, {Cumulative vote}, etc. See under {Casting},
      {Cumulative}, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

from The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

Casting \Cast"ing\, n.
   1. The act of one who casts or throws, as in fishing.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. The act or process of making casts or impressions, or of
      shaping metal or plaster in a mold; the act or the process
      of pouring molten metal into a mold.
      [1913 Webster]

   3. That which is cast in a mold; esp. the mass of metal so
      cast; as, a casting in iron; bronze casting.
      [1913 Webster]

   4. The warping of a board. --Brande & C.
      [1913 Webster]

   5. The act of casting off, or that which is cast off, as
      skin, feathers, excrement, etc.
      [1913 Webster]

   {Casting of draperies}, the proper distribution of the folds
      of garments, in painting and sculpture.

   {Casting line} (Fishing), the leader; also, sometimes applied
      to the long reel line.

   {Casting net}, a net which is cast and drawn, in distinction
      from a net that is set and left.

   {Casting voice}, {Casting vote}, the decisive vote of a
      presiding officer, when the votes of the assembly or house
      are equally divided. "When there was an equal vote, the
      governor had the casting voice." --B. Trumbull.

   {Casting weight}, a weight that turns a balance when exactly
      poised.
      [1913 Webster]

from Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)

CASTING VOTE, legislation. The vote given by the president or speaker of a 
deliberate assembly; when the votes of the other members are equal on both 
sides, the casting vote then decides the question. Dane's Ab. h.t. 
CASTRATION, crim. law. The act of gelding. When this act is maliciously 
performed upon a man, it is a mayhem, and punishable as such, although the 
sufferer consented to it. 
     2. By the ancient law of England this crime was punished by 
retaliation, membrum pro membro. 3 Inst. 118. It is punished in the United 
States generally by fine and imprisonment. The civil law punished it with 
death. Dig. 48, 8, 4, 2. For the French law, vide Code Penal, art. 316. 3. 
The consequences of castration, when complete, are impotence and sterility. 1

Beck's Med. Jur. 72.