Mainmast

//ˈmeɪn.mæst// noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The tallest mast of a sailing ship that has more than one mast; particularly a full-rigged ship.

    "O, the most piteous cry of the poor souls! sometimes to see ’em, and not to see ’em; now the ship boring the moon with her main-mast, and anon swallowed with yest and froth, as you’ld thrust a cork into a hogshead."

  2. 2
    the chief mast of a sailing vessel with two or more masts wordnet
  3. 3
    The second-foremost mast of a non-sailing ship with more than one mast.

Synonyms

All synonyms
mastspar

Example

More examples

"The ship creaked and groaned, the mighty timbers bulged and bent under the heavy blows, the water broke over the decks, snapping the mainmast like a reed."

Etymology

From main + mast.

Related phrases

mainmast headsailing ship

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.