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Webster 1913 Edition


Mast

Mast

(mȧst)
,
Noun.
[AS.
maest
, fem.; akin to G.
mast
, and E.
meat
. See
Meat
.]
The fruit of the oak and beech, or other forest trees; nuts; acorns.
Oak
mast
, and beech, . . . they eat.
Chapman.
Swine under an oak filling themselves with the
mast
.
South.

Mast

,
Noun.
[AS.
maest
, masc.; akin to D., G., Dan., & Sw.
mast
, Icel.
mastr
, and perh. to L.
malus
.]
1.
(Naut.)
A pole, or long, strong, round piece of timber, or spar, set upright in a boat or vessel, to sustain the sails, yards, rigging, etc. A mast may also consist of several pieces of timber united by iron bands, or of a hollow pillar of iron or steel.
The tallest pine
Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the
mast

Of some great ammiral.
Milton.
☞ The most common general names of
masts
are
foremast
,
mainmast
, and
mizzenmast
, each of which may be made of separate spars.
2.
(Mach.)
The vertical post of a derrick or crane.
Afore the mast
,
Before the mast
.
See under
Afore
, and
Before
.
Mast coat
.
See under
Coat
.
Mast hoop
,
one of a number of hoops attached to the fore edge of a boom sail, which slip on the mast as the sail is raised or lowered; also, one of the iron hoops used in making a made mast. See
Made
.

Mast

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Masted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Masting
.]
To furnish with a mast or masts; to put the masts of in position;
as, to
mast
a ship
.

Webster 1828 Edition


Mast

M`AST

,
Noun.
A long, round piece of timber, elevated or designed to be raised perpendicularly or nearly so, on the keel of a ship or other vessel, to which the yards,sails and rigging are attached, and by which they are supported. A mast is a single stick, formed from the trunk of a tree, or it consists of many pieces of timber united by iron bands. Masts are of several kinds, as the main-mast, fore-mast, mizzen-mast, top-mast, top-gallant-mast, &c.

M`AST

,
Noun.
The fruit of the oak and beech, or other forest trees; nuts; acorns. [It has no plural.]