1494 Loutfut MS f. 130, in Dict. Older Sc. Tongue at Ourcast In making of fossis..thair suld nocht be neir by a hill or a place that mycht be hurt to the host outhir be sand or be ourcast of stane.

1574 A. Golding tr. N. Hemmingsen Postill (new ed.) Ep. Ded. sig. a.iij All Estates, from the Magistrate, too the poore afflicted ouercaste [earlier outcast] among men.

1868 J. Salmon Gowodean 70 Gipsy ow'rcast..found stickin' in the fen.

1637 T. Heywood Ivpeter & Io 160 Whence come these foggy mysts that choke the aire, In so serene and bright an hemisphere?.. If from the earth, this sudden overcast Would smell of thicke and suffocating damps.

1686 J. Goad Astro-meteorologica i. iii. 10 [If not a Fog] something cognate to it, a little Frost perhaps, or thin Overcast.

1798 G. Mitchell tr. D. L. G. Karsten Descr. Minerals in Leskean Mus. 284 Red Scaly Iron Ore as a very thin overcast.

1809 B. H. Malkin tr. A. R. Le Sage Adventures Gil Blas II. v. i. 277 The lowering overcast of his swarthy aspect.

1895 Daily News 27 June 3/1 The dangerous formation of clouds that fringed the overcast of steel blue.

1938 A. Jordanoff Through Overcast xxv. 304 In the early days..airmen..tried to guide themselves through the overcast by the ‘feel’ of the controls which they had acquired during contact flying.

1946 Happy Landings (Air Ministry) July 5/1 The aircraft..was seen emerging from the overcast.

1967 S. Blanc Rose Window (1968) xix. 183 It was only mid-morning and a high overcast that obscured the sun had not yet burned away.

1990 W. Jackson Britain's Def. Dilemma 65 There were some bright patches in the otherwise sombre overcast of the last years of the 1950s.

?c1702 T. Fagge Bends of Ship f. 1, in Shipbuilding Contracts (National Maritime Mus. SPB/8) The overcast increases as the Timbers rise Fore and Aft.

1754 M. Murray tr. H. L. Duhamel du Monceau Elements Naval Archit. iv. 26 in Treat. Ship-building In forming the frames by the bend mould, when it is set to the narrowing of the floor, the head of the mould will come too far in at the deck; the mould must therefore be moved round upon the point which represents the floor ribband, till the head goes out to the proper breadth; this will occasion the lower part of the mould to rise a certain quantity, which is called the over-cast.

a1704 Compl. Servant-maid (ed. 7) 63 Open it betwixt the gimp or over-cast, likewise into every Ilit-hole.

c1840 Lady Wilton Art of Needlework xx. 317 There is back stitch—overcast—and seam stitch.

1867 C. Austen My Aunt Jane Austen (1952) 7 She was a great adept at overcast and satin stitch—the peculiar delight of that day.

1891 Weldon's Pract. Needlework VI. No. 68. 12/1 When working the overcast be careful to make each stitch as nearly as can be the same in size.

1995 Re: Sewing Machine FAQ—Viking in rec.crafts.textiles.quilting (Usenet newsgroup) 15 Mar. Extras (feet, accessories) that I would recommend for the machine—two feet, the B foot for applique and the J foot for overcast.

1771 in Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1885) XIII. 482 There was an overcast made by the listers upon the grand levy of the year 1761, of the sum of £427 0 0.

1772 in Public Rec. Colony of Connecticut (1885) XIII. 579 Abatements for over-cast of the list..shall be made.

1867 Morning Star 12 Jan. We went up the board-gate to the overcast or archway supporting a roadway above, and we found that standing, but an overcast further on near the ending was blown down.

1914 S. O. Andros Coal Mining Pract. in District VIII 18 (caption) Tongue-and-groove lining of overcast.

1920 A. H. Fay Gloss. Mining & Mineral Industry 481 Overcast, a passage through which the ventilating current is conveyed over an entry or air course.

1964 A. Nelson Dict. Mining 8 Air-crossing, a ‘bridge’ where a return airway passes over (overcast) or under (undercast) an intake airway.

1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Over-cast-staff, a scale, or measure, employed by shipwrights to determine the difference between the curves of those timbers which are placed near the greatest breadth, and those which are situated near the extremities of the keel, where the floor rises and grows narrower.

1616 R. Cocks Diary (1883) I. 163 Over~cast wether, with a stiff gale wynd..towardes night proved a tuffon.

1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 278 For the Morning, and the Euening, or Ouer-cast Dayes.

1775 L. Carter Diary 16 Sept. (1965) II. 943 Very warm, Overcast, fair, dry weather.

1835 W. Irving Tour on Prairies 284 It was a raw overcast night.

1859 C. Dickens Tale of Two Cities iii. i. 168 The light..half derived from the waning oil-lamps..and half from the overcast day, was in a[n]..uncertain condition.

1895 A. Patterson Man & Nature on Broads 67 A sudden squall..strikes us; and heavy rain drops down from an overcast sky.

1932 G. Greene Stamboul Train i. i. 3 Water falling from the overcast sky.

1966 V. Nabokov Speak, Memory (U.S. rev. ed.) ii. 44 On overcast afternoons, all alone in the drizzle, my mother..would set out.

2001 Org. Gardening Jan. 9/3 Apple scab..is..encouraged by wet and overcast weather in spring and early summer.

a1672 F. Willughby Bk. of Games (2003) 176 The balls are made of shreds of cloth rapped hard about a bullet, and then sowed about with overcast titch [sic].

1865 F. B. Palliser Hist. Lace xiii. 181 It is only ‘bride ordinaire’;..very different from the clear ‘over-cast’ hexagon of the last century.

1891 Weldon's Pract. Needlework VI. No. 68. 12/1 Overcast outline. Overcast stitch is a favourite outline for fine work.

1925 Woman's World (Chicago) Apr. 29/4 The next step is to join the collar to the coat, using a pressed-open over-cast seam.

1934 M. Thomas Dict. Embroidery Stitches 156 To work Overcast Stitch, the line to be covered must first be run stitched over... The needle then travels over and over this running stitch.

1964 McCall's Sewing in Colour ii. 30/1 Lingerie hem, a rolled hem that is caught with two overcast stitches at intervals..gathering it in puffs.

1988 R. Feild & C. Dale Which? Guide to buying Antiques (rev. ed.) 122/2 Single cord overcast silk, mercerized cotton.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 243/1 A Spaniel..licking of the overcast Cream from the Churn-side.

1839 I. Taylor Anc. Christianity I. 221 Invited..to accept the overcast christianity of Chrysostom.

1892 Daily News 17 Dec. 7/4 I generally kept the over~cast money for a few days and then gave some of it to Mr. H.

a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. 225 Þere was at Rome a bole of bras in þe schap of Iupiter ouercast [L. transformati].

a1400 (c1303) R. Mannyng Handlyng Synne (Harl.) 5470 (MED) Alle þey behelde hym faste, And sawe hys coloure ofte ouer caste [Fr. ad change].

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) i. 2868 (MED) But, o allas! how sone he ouercaste His heste, his feith.

c1425 J. Lydgate Troyyes Bk. (Augustus A.iv) ii. 4082 When þei gynne dulle To make sorwe, it happeþ hem as faste Þat by grace þei sone it ouer caste.

1568 A. Scott Poems (1896) xii. 53 Gif ȝe our cast, My lyf is past.

1788 Scots Mag. Nov. 559 It cost him mony a richt saut tear Or he o'ercust it.

1830 W. Scott Monastery (new ed.) I. xiv. 206 See that..the red stag does not gaul you as he did Diccon Thorburn, who never overcast the wound that he took from a buck's horn.

1904 N.E.D. (at cited word) She hes gotten what she'll never owercast.

1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues at Passé Ie suis passé, I am gone, or ouercast, I haue throwne ouer, at Bowles, etc.

1681 W. Robertson Phraseologia generalis (1693) 964 I am overcast at bowls; ultra metam jeci.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) To Over-cast,..to throw beyond the Jack in Bowling.

1819 W. Scott Ivanhoe II. iv. 60 He rose up in his stirrups, as thereby meaning to over-cast the mark; and so he would have done, but Fangs happening to bound up at the very moment, received a scratch.

1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch IV. lxviii. 91 There was a cunning calculation under this noisy joking... But his cunning had a little overcast its mark.

1622 F. Bacon Hist. Raigne Henry VII 17 The King, in his accompt of peace, and calmes, did much ouer-cast his fortunes.

1765 J. Ingersoll Lett. Stamp-Act (1766) 49 'Tis most likely we rather under than overcast the probable Amount of it.