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Webster 1913 Edition


Hoist

Hoist

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Hoisted
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Hoisting
.]
[OE.
hoise
,
hyse
, OD.
hyssen
, D.
hijshen
; akin to LG.
hissen
, Dan.
hisse
, Sw.
hissa
.]
To raise; to lift; to elevate; esp., to raise or lift to a desired elevation, by means of tackle, as a sail, a flag, a heavy package or weight.
They land my goods, and
hoist
my flying sails.
Pope.
Hoisting
him into his father’s throne.
South.
Hoisting engine
,
a steam engine for operating a hoist.

Hoist

,
Noun.
1.
That by which anything is hoisted; the apparatus for lifting goods.
2.
The act of hoisting; a lift.
[Colloq.]
3.
(Naut.)
(a)
The perpendicular height of a flag, as opposed to the fly, or horizontal length when flying from a staff.
(b)
The height of a fore-and-aft sail next the mast or stay.
Totten.
Hoist bridge
,
a drawbridge that is lifted instead of being swung or drawn aside.

Hoist

,
p.
p.
Hoisted.
[Obs.]
'T is the sport to have the enginer
Hoist
with his own petar.
Shakespeare

Webster 1828 Edition


Hoist

HOIST

,
Verb.
T.
[originally hoise; but corrupted, perhaps beyond remedy.]
1.
To raise; to lift.
We'll quickly hoist duke Humphrey from his seat.
In popular language, it is a word of general application. But the word has two appropriate uses, one by seamen, and the other by milkmaids, viz.
2.
To raise, to lift or bear upwards by means of tackle; and to draw up or raise, as a sail along the masts or stays, or as a flag, though by a single block only. Hoist the main-sail. Hoist the flag.
3.
To lift and move the leg backwards; a word of command used by milkmaids to cows, when they wish them to lift and set back the right leg.

HOIST

,
Noun.
In marine language, the perpendicular highth of a flag or ensign, as opposed to the fly, or breadth from the staff to the outer edge.

Definition 2024


hoist

hoist

English

Verb

hoist (third-person singular simple present hoists, present participle hoisting, simple past and past participle hoisted or hoist)

  1. (transitive) To raise; to lift; to elevate; especially, to raise or lift to a desired elevation, by means of tackle or pulley, as a sail, a flag, a heavy package or weight.
    • Alexander Pope
      They land my goods, and hoist my flying sails.
    • South
      hoisting him into his father's throne
    • 1719: Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe
      ...but this last was so heavy, I could not hoist it up to get it over the ship's side.
    • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island
      Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and laid him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow, as if he were almost fainting.
    • 2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport:
      And when skipper Richie McCaw hoisted the Webb Ellis Trophy high into the night, a quarter of a century of hurt was blown away in an explosion of fireworks and cheering.
  2. (transitive, historical) To lift someone up to be flogged.
  3. (intransitive) To be lifted up.
  4. (transitive, computing theory) To extract (code) from a loop construct as part of optimization.

Usage notes

  • "Hoisted" is about fifteen times more common than "hoist" in US usage as past and past participle. The "hoist" form is also uncommon in the UK except in the expression "hoist by one's own petard".

Quotations

Translations

Noun

hoist (plural hoists)

  1. A hoisting device, such as pulley or crane.
  2. The act of hoisting; a lift.
    Give me a hoist over that wall.
  3. The perpendicular height of a flag, as opposed to the fly, or horizontal length, when flying from a staff.
  4. The vertical edge of a flag which is next to the staff.
  5. The height of a fore-and-aft sail, next the mast or stay.

Translations