topmast
/ˈtɒpmɑːst
/ /ˈtɒpməst/noun
The second section of a square-rigged sailing ship’s mast, immediately above the lower mast.Bellerophon's main topmast had been shot away and her mizzen topmast was in a precarious state....
- On Saturday afternoons in the summer Ganges boys with spare time were allowed to climb the mast, and on one day he and a mate were at the crossjack - the highest point on the mast, except for the topmast and its notorious button.
- The delinquent middie was sent to the ‘crows nest’ on the top of the main part of a mast; that is, below the topmast, which was a short mast lashed to the lower mast.