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Examples of mainmast in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The mainmast is broken, the cabin boy is on deck, there are twelve passengers aboard, the wind is blowing Northeast, the clock points to a quarter past three in the afternoon.
—Richard Malena, Popular Mechanics, 26 Dec. 2022
Minutes later, the English ship — the Fancy, under the command of the notorious pirate captain Henry Every — had closed on the Mughal vessel and shattered its 40-foot mainmast with a single, fluke cannon shot.
—Adam Higginbotham, New York Times, 12 May 2020
Resting on deck, leaning against the mainmast, was a small wooden boat for ferrying crew members to and from the larger ship.
—William J. Broad, New York Times, 22 July 2019
In 1866, a special insignia—a square blue flag with a white foul anchor in the center and four white stars at each corner—was designed to fly from the mainmast of a vessel whenever the Secretary of the Navy was aboard.
—Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 13 Oct. 2017
For instance, Luebke adds, the President's flag has historically flown at the mainmast while a different flag for the Vice President is flown at the slightly shorter foremast.
—Olivia B. Waxman, Time, 13 Oct. 2017
The whalemen spend several days cleaning the ship and themselves, from the bilges to the top of the mainmast.
—Longreads, 21 Sep. 2017
The mainsail boom, itself a tree trunk almost as thick as the 12-story-high mainmast, is a varnished work of art as sun glints off the wood’s whorls and knots.
—Brian J. Cantwell, The Seattle Times, 19 July 2017
The location of the Titanic is no longer a secret, and Ballard said submarines have bumped into it and landed on it, destroying its mainmast and damaging large areas of the deck.
—Randy Alfred, WIRED, 2 Sep. 2008
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mainmast.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
First Known Use
15th century, in the meaning defined above
Time Traveler
The first known use of mainmast was
in the 15th century
Dictionary Entries Near mainmast
Cite this Entry
“Mainmast.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mainmast. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.
Kids Definition
mainmast
noun
main·mast
ˈmān-ˌmast
-məst
: the principal mast of a sailing ship
More from Merriam-Webster on mainmast
Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about mainmast
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