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Dictionary


hoist



Pronunciation: (hoist or, sometimes, hīst), [key]
—v.t.
1. to raise or lift, esp. by some mechanical appliance: to hoist a flag; to hoist the mainsail.
2. to raise to one's lips and drink; drink (esp. beer or whiskey) with gusto: Let's go hoist a few beers.
3. Archaic.a pt. and pp. of hoise.
4. hoist with or by one's own petard. See petard (def. 4).

—n.
1. an apparatus for hoisting, as a block and tackle, a derrick, or a crane.
2. act of hoisting; a lift: Give that sofa a hoist at your end.
3. Naut.
a. the vertical dimension amidships of any square sail that is hoisted with a yard. Cf. drop (def. 28).
b. the distance between the hoisted and the lowered position of such a yard.
c. the dimension of a fore-and-aft sail along the luff.
d. a number of flags raised together as a signal.
4. (on a flag)
a. the vertical dimension as flown from a vertical staff.
b. the edge running next to the staff. Cf. fly (def. 36b).

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

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