Short time in drag for cast (5)
I believe the answer is:
throw
'cast' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'short time in drag' is the wordplay.
'short time' becomes 'hr' (short for hour).
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'drag' becomes 'tow' (towing is a kind of dragging).
'hr' going into 'tow' is 'THROW'.
'for' is the link.
(Other definitions for throw that I've seen before include "Dumbfound" , "Discard" , "Try not to win" , "Sling" , "shot-put event?" .)