hoist
/hɔɪst
/verb [with object]
1Raise (something) by means of ropes and pulleys: a white flag was hoisted...
- When conditions finally permitted, it was all hands on deck as we formed teams heaving on a forest of ropes to hoist the huge sails.
- Jeffers apprenticed himself to the home's contractors, then built Hawk Tower by hand, using ropes to hoist boulders from the cove below.
- The disused temporary school building has already been brought from Bridlington to York, and leaders are preparing to bring in engineers and a crane to hoist the four-part structure into place.
Synonyms
raise, raise up, lift, lift up, haul up, heave up, jack up, hike up, winch up, pull up, upraise, uplift, elevate, erect
rare upheave
1.1 [with object and adverbial] Raise or haul up: she hoisted her backpack on to her shoulder...
- At the shrine he was hoisted onto a kneeler, where he prayed before the ivy-covered grotto.
- It was about four feet high, the perfect height for small people to hoist themselves onto.
- He pulled himself up next to her, hoisting her onto his lap.
noun
1An act of raising or lifting something.Instead, Dick persuaded Fritz to sail to the next platform and ask the crane driver to give them a hoist into the water....
- Just as you get your side beautifully fixed, he gives it a hoist from his end, and spoils it all.
1.1An apparatus for lifting or raising something: mechanical lifts or hoists for firefighting purposes...
- There was one woman, also in a wheelchair, who instead of getting out at the bottom of the stairs and walking up, insisted on a mechanical hoist to lift her, chair and all, up to the plane's door.
- Now the council has stepped in to try and make some of them safe by using a hoist to lift the stones and bedding them in concrete two feet deep.
- I then felt a series of bumps, which I later learned was just the rescue hoist jerking.
Synonyms
lifting gear, crane, winch, tackle, block and tackle, pulley, windlass, davit, derrick
1.2An act of increasing something: an interest rate hoist...
- The biggest hoist of all, though, was the one his own career enjoyed.
- But the reason I endured my spell in that job was in order to get my first hoist up the career ladder.
2The part of a flag nearest the staff.Visibility was always the main drawback to this medium, accentuated when steam propulsion permitted ships to ignore wind direction so that flag hoists might be end-on to those supposed to read them....
- As though to help answer his query a breeze took the flag and Armand was surprised to see it was the Canadian coat-of-arms with union jack at the hoist, the flag of that country at the time.
- The Union Flag occupies the upper, hoist quarter of an otherwise red flag and the Arms are within the red field.
3A group of flags raised as a signal.In addition, flag hoists and flashing light signals were sent to try and get the ship to halt....
- On Stuart's flag deck a member of the ship's company prepares a hoist.
Phrases
hoist one's flag
hoist the flag
hoist with one's own petard
Derivatives
hoister
- Although many other materials and designs have been used to make these hoisters, nothing beats the elegance of the original.
- Aside from the superb quality of the hoister itself, the heart of the rig beats in the uniquely designed paddle.
Origin
Late 15th century: alteration of dialect hoise, probably from Dutch hijsen or Low German hiesen, but recorded earlier.