Hoist

Pronunciation

• IPA: /hɔɪst/
• Rhymes: -ɔɪst

Origin

Alteration of hoise, apparently based on the past tense and participle. Compare Danish hisse, German hissen, Italian issare (loaned from a Germanic source).

Full definition of hoist

Verb

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 PopeThey land my goods, and hoist my flying sails.
• Southhoisting him into his father's throne
• 1719: Daniel Defoe, ...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 IslandBetween 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, 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, comptheory) 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.

Noun

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.