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Webster 1913 Edition

Vast

Vast

(vȧst)
,
Adj.
[
Com
par.
Vaster
(vȧst′ẽr)
;
sup
erl.
Vastest
.]
[L.
vastus
empty, waste, enormous, immense: cf. F.
vaste
. See
Waste
, and cf.
Devastate
.]
1.
Waste; desert; desolate; lonely.
[Obs.]
The empty,
vast
, and wandering air.
Shakespeare
2.
Of great extent; very spacious or large; also, huge in bulk; immense; enormous;
as, the
vast
ocean;
vast
mountains; the
vast
empire of Russia
.
Through the
vast
and boundless deep.
Milton.
3.
Very great in numbers, quantity, or amount;
as, a
vast
army; a
vast
sum of money
.
4.
Very great in force; mighty;
as,
vast
labor
.
5.
Very great in importance;
as, a subject of
vast
concern
.
Syn. – Enormous; huge; immense; mighty.

Vast

,
Noun.
A waste region; boundless space; immensity.
“The watery vast.”
Pope.
Michael bid sound
The archangel trumpet. Through the
vast
of heaven
It sounded.
Milton.

Webster 1828 Edition

Vast

V'AST

,
Adj.
[L. vastus. The primary sense of the root must be a part or spread, as this is connected with the verb to waste.]
1.
Being of great extent; very spacious or large; as the vast ocean; a vast abyss; the vast empire of Russia; the vast plains of Syria; the vast domains of the Almighty.
2.
Huge in bulk and extent; as the vast mountains of Asia; the vast range of the Andes.
3.
Very great in numbers or amount; as a vast army; vast numbers or multitudes were slain; vast sums of money have been expended to gratify pride and ambition.
4.
Very great in force; mighty; as vast efforts; vast labor.
5.
Very great in importance; as a subject of vast concern.

V'AST

,
Noun.
An empty waste.
Through the vast of heav'n it sounded.
The watery vast.

Definition 2024

vast

vast

See also: VAST and väst

English

Adjective

vast ‎(comparative vaster or more vast, superlative vastest or most vast)

  1. Very large or wide (literally or figuratively).
    The Sahara desert is vast.
    There is a vast difference between them.
  2. Very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially extent.
    • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 172:
      Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.
  3. (obsolete) Waste; desert; desolate; lonely.
    • William Shakespeare, the Life and Death of Richard the Third Act I, scene IV:
      the empty, vast, and wandering air

Translations

Noun

vast ‎(plural vasts)

  1. (poetic) A vast space.
    • 1608: they have seemed to be together, though absent, shook hands, as over a vast, and embraced, as it were, from the ends of opposed winds. — William Shakespeare, The Winter's Tale, I.i

Derived terms

Statistics

Most common English words before 1923: Rome · twelve · opposite · #972: vast · isn't · board · associated

Anagrams

Estonian

Etymology

Of Finno-Mordvinic or Finno-Volgaic origin. Cognate to Finnish vasta, Votic vassa, Northern Sami vuostá, Erzya [script needed] ‎(vastoms, “to meet, to recieve”), Moksha [script needed] ‎(vasta, “place, distance”) and possibly Western Mari [script needed] ‎(βaštareš, “against, across”)

Adverb

vast

  1. maybe, possibly
  2. recently, just, now

Derived terms

Dutch

Pronunciation

  • Rhymes: -ɑst
  • IPA(key): /vɑst/

Etymology

From Middle Dutch vast, from Old Dutch fast, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz; see it for cognates and further etymology.

Adjective

vast ‎(comparative vaster, superlative meest vast or vastst)

  1. firm, fast, tight
  2. fixed, not moving or changing
    vaste lasten
    fixed costs
  3. stuck, unable to get out
  4. (chemistry) in the solid state
  5. (botany) perennial
  6. (of a telephone) using a landline

Inflection

Inflection of vast
uninflected vast
inflected vaste
comparative vaster
positive comparative superlative
predicative/adverbial vast vaster het vastst
het vastste
indefinite m./f. sing. vaste vastere vastste
n. sing. vast vaster vastste
plural vaste vastere vastste
definite vaste vastere vastste
partitive vasts vasters —

Derived terms

Adverb

vast

  1. surely, certainly
  2. (informal, sarcastically) sure, yeah, right
    Mijn hond at mijn huiswerk. / Mijn hond heeft mijn huiswerk opgegeten. — Ja, vast!
    My dog ate my homework. — Yeah, right!

Synonyms

Verb

vast

  1. first-, second- and third-person singular present indicative of vasten
  2. imperative of vasten

Romani

Etymology

Perhaps (unlikely, as the 'st' in Sanskrit would definitely have shifted to 'tt' or 't') from Sanskrit हस्त ‎(hasta), from Proto-Indo-Iranian, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰés-to- ‎(“hand”) < *ǵʰes-. Compare Punjabi ਹੱਥ ‎(hathth), Hindi हाथ ‎(hāth), Bengali হাত ‎(hat); compare also Persian دست ‎(dast).

Noun

vast m ‎(plural vast)

  1. hand

Etymology

From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus ‎(“void, immense”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) enPR: väst, IPA(key): /vɑːst/
  • (US) IPA(key): /væst/
  • Rhymes: -ɑːst

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