Definition of mast in English

WordNet

Noun Plural: masts
mast - a vertical spar for supporting sails
		spar making the motions of attack and defense with the fists and arms; a part of training for a boxer
		sailing ship, sailing vessel a vessel that is powered by the wind; often having several masts
		foremast the mast nearest the bow in vessels with two or more masts
		jiggermast, jigger any small mast on a sailing vessel; especially the mizzenmast of a yawl
		jury mast a temporary mast to replace one that has broken off
		mainmast the chief mast of a sailing vessel with two or more masts
		masthead the head or top of a mast
		mizenmast, mizzenmast, mizen, mizzen third mast from the bow in a vessel having three or more masts; the after and shorter mast of a yawl, ketch, or dandy
mast - any sturdy upright pole
mast - nuts of forest trees used as feed for swine
mast - nuts of forest trees (as beechnuts and acorns) accumulated on the ground

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Wiktionary

mast (Noun)
A tall, slim post or tower, usually tapering upward, used to support, for example, the sails on a ship, flags, floodlights, or communications equipment such as an aerial, usually supported by guy-wires.
mast (Noun)
The fruit of forest-trees beech, oak, chestnut, pecan, etc. , especially if having fallen from the tree, used as fodder for pigs and other animals.
mast (Verb)
To supply and fit a mast to a ship.
mast (Verb)
To feed on forest seed or fruit.
mast (Verb)
To vary fruit and seed production in multi-year cycles.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

mast (n.)
The fruit of the oak and beech, or other forest trees; nuts; acorns.
mast (n.)
A pole, or long, strong, round piece of timber, or spar, set upright in a boat or vessel, to sustain the sails, yards, rigging, etc. A mast may also consist of several pieces of timber united by iron bands, or of a hollow pillar of iron or steel.
mast (n.)
The vertical post of a derrick or crane.
mast (v. t.)
To furnish with a mast or masts; to put the masts of in position; as, to mast a ship.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

mast
Post of wood or steel, long, round and straight, standing on a ship, intended to carry the sails, flags, floodlights, or communications equipment.

Marine DictionaryUniversal Dictionary of the Marine ⚓️

mast
mât, a long round piece of timber, elevated perpendicularly upon the keel of a ship, to which are attached the yards, the sails, and the rigging.
A mast, with regard to its length, is either formed of one single piece, which is called a pole-mast, or composed of several pieces joined together, each of which retains the name of mast separately. The lowest of these is accordingly named the lower-mast, a, fig. 1. plate VI. the next in height is the top-mast, b, which is erected at the head of the former; and the highest is the top-gallant-mast, c, which is prolonged from the upper end of the top-mast. Thus the two last are no other than a continuation of the first upwards.
The lower-mast is fixed in the ship by an apparatus, described in the articles hulk and sheers: the foot, or heel of it, rests in a block of timber called the step, which is fixed upon the kelson; and the top-mast is attached to the head of it by the cap and the tressel-trees. The latter of these are two strong bars of timber, supported by two prominencies, which are as shoulders on the opposite sides of the mast, a little under its upper end: athwart these bars are fixed the cross-trees, upon which the frame of the top is supported. Between the lower mast-head, and the foremost of the cross-trees, a square space remains vacant, the sides of which are bounded by the two tressel-trees. Perpendicularly above this is the foremost hole in the cap, whose after-hole is solidly fixed on the head of the lower-mast. The top-mast is erected by a tackle, whose effort is communicated from the head of the lower mast to the foot of the top-mast; and the upper end of the latter is accordingly guided into, and conveyed up through, the holes between the tressel-trees and the cap, as above mentioned. The machinery by which it is elevated, or, according to the sea-phrase, swayed-up, is fixed in the following manner: the top rope d, fig. 2. passing through a block e, which is hooked on one side of the cap, and afterwards through a hole, furnished with a sheave or pulley f, in the lower end of the top-mast, is again brought upwards on the other side of the mast, where it is at length fastened to an eye-bolt in the cap g, which is always on the side opposite to the top-block e. To the lower end of the top-rope is fixed the top-tackle h, the effort of which being transmitted to the top-rope d, and thence to the heel of the top-mast f, necessarily lifts the latter upwards, parallel to the lower-mast. When the top-mast is raised to its proper height, fig. 3. the lower end of it becomes firmly wedged in the square hole, above described, between the tressel-trees. A bar of wood, or iron, called the fid, is then thrust through a hole i in the heel of it, across the tressel-trees, by which the whole weight of the top-mast is supported.
In the same manner as the top-mast is retained at the head of the lower-mast, the top-gallant-mast is erected, and fixed at the head of the top-mast.
Besides the parts already mentioned in the construction of masts, with respect to their length, the lower-masts of the largest ships are composed of several pieces united into one body. As these are generally the most substantial parts of various trees, a mast, formed by this assemblage, is justly esteemed much stronger than one consisting of any single trunk, whose internal solidity may be very uncertain. The several pieces are formed and joined together, as represented in the section of a lower-mast of this sort, fig. 4. plate VI. where a is the shaft, or principal piece into which the rest are fixed, with their sides or faces close to each other. The whole is secured by several strong hoops of iron, driven on the outside of the mast, a, fig. 1. where they remain at proper distances.
The principal articles to be considered in equipping a ship with masts are, 1st, the number; 2d, their situation in the vessel; and 3d, their height above the water.
The masts being used to extend the sails by means of their yards, it is evident that if their number were multiplied beyond what is necessary, the yards must be extremely short, that they may not entangle each other in working the ship, and by consequence their sails will be very narrow, and receive a small portion of wind. If, on the contrary, there is not a sufficient number of masts in the vessel, the yards will be too large and heavy, so as not to be managed without difficulty. There is a mean between these extremes, which experience and the general practice of the sea have determined; by which it appears, that in large ships, every advantage of sailing is retained by three masts and a bowsprit.
The most advantageous position of the masts is undoubtedly that from whence there results an equilibrio between the resistance of the water, on the body of the ship, on one part, and of the direction of their effort on the other. By every other position this equilibrio is destroyed, and the greatest effort of the masts will operate to turn the ship horizontally about its direction; a circumstance which retards her velocity. It is counterbalanced indeed by the helm; but the same inconvenience still continues; for the force of the wind, having the resistance of the helm to overcome, is not intirely employed to push the vessel forward. The axis of the resistance of the water should then be previously determined, to discover the place of the main-mast, in order to suspend the efforts of the water equally, and place the other masts so as that their particular direction will coincide with that of the main-mast. The whole of this would be capable of a solution, if the figure of the vessel were regular, because the point, about which the resistance of the water would be in equilibrio, might be discovered by calculation.
But when the real figure of the ship is considered, these flattering ideas will instantly vanish. This observation induced M. Saverien to employ a mechanical method to discover the axis of resistance of the water, which he apprehended might be used with success in the manner following:
When the vessel is lanched, before the places of the masts are determined, extend a rope A B, fig. 6. plate VI. from the head to the stern. To the extremities A and B attach two other ropes A D, B C, and apply to the other ends of these ropes two mechanical powers, to draw the ship according to the direction B C, parallel to itself. The whole being thus disposed, let a moveable tube Z, fixed upon the rope A B, have another rope Z R attached to it, whose other end communicates with a mechanical power R, equal to the two powers D and C. This last being applied to the same vessel, in such manner as to take off the effects of the two others by sliding upon the rope A B, so as to discover some point Z, by the parallelism of the ropes A D B C feebly extended with the rope Z R; the line Z R will be the axis of the equilibrium of the water´s resistance, and by consequence the main-mast should be planted in the point Z.
The figures E, E, E, are three windlasses on the shore, by which this experiment is applied.
With regard to the situation of the other masts, it is necessary, in the same manner, to discover two points; so that the direction of the two mechanical powers operating, will be parallel to the axis of resistance R Z already found.
The exact height of the masts, in proportion to the form and size of the ship, remains yet a problem to be determined. The more the masts are elevated above the centre of gravity, the greater will be the surface of sail, which they are enabled to present to the wind; so far an additional height seems to be advantageous. But this advantage is diminished by the circular movement of the mast, which operates to make the vessel stoop to its effort; and this inclination is increased, in proportion to the additional height of the mast; an inconvenience which it is necessary to guard against. Thus what is gained upon one hand is lost upon the other. To reconcile these differences, it is certain, that the height of the mast ought to be determined by the inclination of the vessel, and that the point of her greatest inclination should be the term of this height, above the centre of gravity. See the article TRIM.
With regard to the general practice of determining the height of the masts, according to the different rates of the ships in the royal navy, the reader is referred to the article SAIL.
In order to secure the masts, and counterbalance the strain they receive from the effort of the sails impressed by the wind, and the agitation of the ship at sea, they are sustained by several strong ropes, extended from their upper-ends to the outside of the vessel, called shrouds, see fig. 5. plate VI.
They are further supported by other ropes, stretched from their heads towards the fore-part of the vessel. See RIGGING.
Plate VI. (Mast)
The mast, which is placed at the middle of the ship’s length, is called the main-mast, grand-mât; that which is placed in the fore-part, the foremast, mât de misaine; and that which is towards the stern is termed the mizen-mast, mât d’artimon.
N. B. Mizen is applied to this mast by all the nations of Europe, except the French, who alone call the fore-mast misaine.

Sailor's Word-BookThe Sailor's Word-Book ⛵

mast
[Anglo-Saxon mæst, also meant chief or greatest]. A long cylindrical piece of timber elevated perpendicularly upon the keel of a ship, to which are attached the yards, the rigging, and the sails. It is either formed of one piece, and called a pole-mast, or composed of several pieces joined together and termed a made mast. A lower mast is fixed in the ship by sheers (which see), and the foot or keel of it rests in a block of timber called the step, which is fixed upon the keelson.--Expending a mast, or carrying it away, is said, when it is broken by foul weather.--Fore-mast. That which stands near the stem, and is next in size to the main-mast.--Jury-mast. (See JURY-MAST.)--Main-mast. The largest mast in a ship.--Mizen-mast. The smallest mast, standing between the main-mast and the stern.--Over-masted, or taunt-masted. The state of a ship whose masts are too tall or too heavy.--Rough-mast, or rough-tree. A spar fit for making a mast. (See BOWSPRIT and JIB-BOOM.)--Springing a mast. When it is cracked horizontally in any place.--Top-mast. A top-mast is raised at the head or top of the lower-mast through a cap, and supported by the trestle-trees.--Topgallant-mast. A mast smaller than the preceding, raised and secured to its head in the same manner.--Royal-mast. A yet smaller mast, elevated through irons at the head of the topgallant-mast; but more generally the two are formed of one spar.--Under-masted or low-masted ships. Vessels whose masts are small and short for their size.--To mast a ship. The act of placing a ship's masts.

Wikipedia

The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical pole which supports the sails. Larger ships have several masts, with the size depending on the style of ship.

Until the 20th century, a ship's masts would be wooden spars, originally constructed from a single straight tree trunk. As ship sizes increased, taller masts were constructed by lashing up to three spars together.