1. n. & v.
--n.
1. a long upright post of timber, iron, etc., set up on a ship's keel, esp. to support sails.
2 a post or lattice-work upright for supporting a radio or television aerial.
3 a flag-pole (half-mast).
4 (in full mooring-mast) a strong steel tower to the top of which an airship can be moored.
--v.tr. furnish (a ship) with masts.
Phrases and idioms:
before the mast serving as an ordinary seaman (quartered in the forecastle).
Derivatives:
masted adj. (also in comb.). master n. (also in comb.).
Etymology: OE m{aelig}st f. WG 2. n. the fruit of the beech, oak, chestnut, and other forest-trees, esp. as food for pigs.
Etymology: OE m{aelig}st f. WG, prob. rel. to MEAT