mast

Definitions

  • WordNet 3.6
    • n mast a vertical spar for supporting sails
    • n mast any sturdy upright pole
    • n mast nuts of forest trees used as feed for swine
    • n mast nuts of forest trees (as beechnuts and acorns) accumulated on the ground
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
    • Mast (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.
      "
    • Mast (Aëronautics) A spar or strut to which tie wires or guys are attached for stiffening purposes.
    • n Mast mȧst The fruit of the oak and beech, or other forest trees; nuts; acorns. "Oak mast , and beech, . . . they eat.""Swine under an oak filling themselves with the mast ."
    • Mast (Mach) The vertical post of a derrick or crane.
    • v. t Mast To furnish with a mast or masts; to put the masts of in position; as, to mast a ship.
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Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
    • n mast A pole or pillar of round timber, or of tubular iron or steel, secured at the lower end to the keel of a vessel, and rising into the air above the deck to support the yards, sails, and rigging in general. A mast is composed either of a single piece, or of several pieces united by iron bands. When it is of several pieces, it is called a built mast or a made mast. In all large vessels the masts are composed of several lengths, called lower mast, topmast, and topgallantmast. The royalmast is now made in one piece with the topgallantmast. A mast consisting of a single length is called a pole-mast. In a full-rigged ship with three masts, each of three pieces, the masts are distinguished as the foremast, the mainmast, and the mizzenmast; and the pieces as the foremast(proper), foretopmast, foretopgallantmast, etc. In vessels with two masts, they are called the foremast and mainmast; in vessels with four masts, the aftermast is called the spanker-mast or jigger-mast.
    • n mast Any tall pole.
    • n mast The main upright member of a derrick or crane, against which the boom abuts.
    • mast To fix a mast or masts in; supply with a mast or masts; erect the masts of: as, to mast a ship.
    • n mast The fruit of the oak and beech or other forest-trees; acorns or nuts collectively, serving as food for animals.
    • mast To feed on mast.
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Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
    • n Mast mast a long upright pole for bearing the yards, rigging, &c. in a ship
    • v.t Mast to supply with a mast or masts
    • v.t Mast to raise to the mast-head: to punish by sending a sailor to the mast-head for a certain time
    • n Mast mast the fruit of the oak, beech, chestnut, and other forest trees, on which swine feed: nuts, acorns
    • ***

Etymology

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
AS. mæst, masc.; akin to D., G., Dan., & Sw. mast, Icel. mastr, and perh. to L. malus,
Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary
A.S. mæst; Ger. mast, whence mästen, to feed.

Usage

In literature:

The masts seemed so tall, the canvas so white, and the yards extending so far on either side.
"The Heir of Kilfinnan" by W.H.G. Kingston
Just as the action re-commenced, the enemy's main-mast went by the board.
"John Deane of Nottingham" by W.H.G. Kingston
Leaving the mast, I swam towards him; he was lashed to a spar.
"Tales of the Sea" by W.H.G. Kingston
But time was lost in attempting to do this, in consequence of the wreck of the mizzen-mast having fouled the rudder.
"Gascoyne, the Sandal-Wood Trader" by R.M. Ballantyne
Whether these vessels had more than one mast is uncertain.
"How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves" by W.H.G. Kingston
Two of her masts were still standing.
"Won from the Waves" by W.H.G. Kingston
A similar construction may be observed on the fore and mizen-mast, if the ship be a large one.
"Ran Away to Sea" by Mayne Reid
To while away the time, and by way of a little adventure, I determined at night to climb the mizen-mast with a fellow-passenger.
"A Boy's Voyage Round the World" by The Son of Samuel Smiles
Suddenly the wind dropped, and the sails flapped loudly against the masts.
"Owen Hartley; or, Ups and Downs" by William H. G. Kingston
Topgallant masts and royal masts were got up, and everything was prepared for making sail.
"The Voyages of the Ranger and Crusader" by W.H.G. Kingston
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In poetry:

No pennon stream'd from lofty mast,
No ships were there, propell'd by steam,
For then, instead of whistle blast,
Was heard the lordly eagle's scream.
"Goderich" by Thomas Frederick Young
Masts in the offing wagged their tops;
The swinging waves pealed on the shore;
The saffron beach, all diamond drops
And beads of surge, prolonged the roar.
"In Romney Marsh" by John Davidson
Like that the gray-haired sea-king passed,
Seen southward from his sleety mast,
About whose brows of changeless frost
A wreath of flame the wild winds tossed.
"The Chapel of the Hermits" by John Greenleaf Whittier
"Brief let me be: the fatal storm arose;
The billows raged, the pilot's art was vain;
O'er the tall mast the circling surges close;
My Jessy—floats upon the watery plain!
"Elegy XXVI. Describing the Sorrow of An Ingeneous Mind" by William Shenstone
Those that ne'er bowed to man, to Time surrender,
And, as the passing years at last prevail,
Gone are the tapering masts, the rigging slender,
And snow-white spread of sail.
"Then And Now" by Cicely Fox Smith
With a cross of gold, as on they passed, The crimson streamers flew;
The shields hung glittering round the mast,
And on the waves a radiance cast,
Whilst all the trumpets blew.
"The Harp Of Hoel" by William Lisle Bowles

In news:

The Golden Mast 's Bayside Salmon with Leek Sauce Makes 4 Servings.
jsonline.com
A tapering enclosure, planned over the mast , has been eliminated.
nytimes.com
Late Tuesday morning, crews raised the USS Iowa's original mast in the Port of Richmond, where the ship is undergoing restoration.
dailybreeze.com
Mast Raising Caps Historic Day For USS Iowa.
kcrg.com
Mizzen Mast 's Current Top Performers.
bloodhorse.com
Back to Mizzen Mast 's Current Top Performers.
bloodhorse.com
World Wide Sires, Ltd is proud to welcome Rebekah Mast to the World Wide Sires (WWS) team, beginning January 16, 2012.
hoards.com
Robinson Working With FAA On R44 " Mast -Rocking".
ainonline.com
I'm frequently asked if masts need to be unstepped each fall.
cruisingworld.com
These include being able to thoroughly inspect the mast 's step and foot, along with the entire spar and all of its parts.
cruisingworld.com
NTSB Issues Safety Recommendation for R44 Mast -Rocking.
aviationtoday.com
MOUNT GILEAD — Edna Mast , 91, died Saturday, May 21, 2011, at MedCentral Mansfield Hospital.
mountvernonnews.com
Chris Hawkins- Mast Game-by-Game Stats.
espn.go.com
Get the latest news, stats, videos, highlights and more about Texas A&M-CC Islanders Chris Hawkins- Mast on ESPN.com.
espn.go.com
MAST @ Homestead has begun the application process for the 2011-2012 school year.
communitynewspapers.com
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In science:

Speicher, R-diagonal Pair-A Common Approach to Haar Unitaries and Circular Elements, (1995), www .mast.queensu.ca/˜speicher. B.
Diagonal Compressed Random Variables in a Graph W*-probability Spaces
Speicher, R-diagonal Pair-A Common Approach to Haar Unitaries and Circular Elements, (1995), www .mast.queensu.ca/˜speicher. B.
Compressed Random Variables in a Graph W*-Probability Space
Speicher, Combinatorics of Free Probability Theory IHP course note, available at www.mast.queensu.ca/˜speicher.
Compressed Random Variables in a Graph W*-Probability Space
The IUE data presented in this paper were obtained from the Multimission Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute (MAST).
Stellar Wind Variations During the X-ray High and Low States of Cygnus X-1
Some of the data presented in this paper were obtained from the Multimission Archive at the Space Telescope Science Institute (MAST).
Hydrostatic Gas Constraints on Supermassive Black Hole Masses: Implications for Hydrostatic Equilibrium and Dynamical Modelling in a Sample of Early-Type Galaxies
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