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Webster 1913 Edition


Coaster

Coast′er

,
Noun.
1.
A vessel employed in sailing along a coast, or engaged in the coasting trade.
2.
One who sails near the shore.

Webster 1828 Edition


Coaster

COASTER

, n.
1.
One who sails near the shore.
2.
A vessel that is employed in sailing along a coast, or is licensed to navigate or trade from port to port in the same country. In the United States, coasting vessels of twenty tuns burthen and upwards must be enrolled at the custom house.

Definition 2024


coaster

coaster

English

Noun

coaster (plural coasters)

  1. Agent noun of coast: one who coasts.
  2. Something that coasts, such as a sled or toboggan.
  3. (nautical) A merchant vessel that stays in coastal waters.
  4. (nautical) A sailor who travels only in coastal waters.
    • 1881, Symon's monthly meteorological magazine (page 59)
      If you question a seaman on the subject, whether mere coaster or circumnavigator, he will tell you that in a snow-storm, because of its constant eddyings and gyrations, frequent trimming of sails is more necessary than in any other gale []
  5. A person who originates from or inhabits a coastal area.
  6. A small piece of material used to protect the surface of a table, upon which one places cups or mugs.
  7. A small tray on wheels, used to pass something around a table.
  8. (computing, slang) A worthless compact disc or DVD, such as one that was burned incorrectly.
  9. (informal) A rollercoaster.
  10. (Lake Superior) A coaster trout (brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis)
  11. (slang, dated) A prostitute, especially a white woman, plying her trade in Chinese port towns.
    • 1932, F. Van Wyck Mason, The Branded Spy Murders, Grosset and Dunlap, page 65:
      I think you can say this much, that from these traces of callus I'd venture she was once a ballet dancer—and later got her living otherwise—as a coaster perhaps.
    • 1933, F. Van Wyck Mason, The Shanghai Bund Murders, Grosset and Dunlap, page 51:
      Gently again, he raised his hand to tap on the smooth white panels of the coaster's door, but once more his interview with Ruby Braunfeld was postponed.
    • 1994, Romance and the "Yellow Peril": Race, Sex, and Discursive Strategies in Hollywood Romance, University of California Press., page 59:
      Once engaged to be married, Lily and Doc have been separated for more than five years because of Doc's jealous reaction to a ploy Lily had used to test his love. They meet, by chance, on the Shanghai Express. Lily has become a "coaster", a vamp who travels along the China coast looking for men to victimize, and Doc has thrown himself into his work as a British medical officer.
    • 2000, Charles Busch, Shanghai Moon, Samuel French, Inc.:
      I have studied your astrological chart and it fills me with more concern than hatred. If you stay in China, I fear you will end up a coaster.

Synonyms

  • (small piece of material for protecting the surface of a table, upon which one places the cup): beer mat, beermat

Coordinate terms

  • (small piece of material for protecting the surface of a table, upon which one places the cup): saucer

Translations

See also

Anagrams