单词 | before the mast |
释义 | > as lemmasbefore (also afore) the mast before (also afore) the mast now historical in the forecastle in front of the foremast on a sailing ship, where ordinary seamen are berthed; (hence) serving as an ordinary seaman. [Earlier currency of a similar expression in Anglo-Norman is suggested by the surname Walterus devand le Mast (c1200).] ΚΠ 1480 R. Cely Let. 12 Dec. in Cely Lett. (1975) 102 Aull iij sortys lyes togyddyr whon wyth anothyr befor the maste wndyr the hachys. 1613 W. Welwood Abridgem. Sea-lawes vi. 20 His charge is to command all before the mast. 1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. ix. 39 The Boatswaine, and all the Yonkers or common Sailers vnder his command is to be before the Mast. 1746 Gentleman's Mag. Nov. 591/1 The hands chopt in the laborious exercise of ropes.., and the rugged visage imbrown'd by the various changes of weather were not, in those days, to be found only before the mast. 1786 R. Burns Poems 183 So, took a birth afore the mast, An' owre the sea. 1840 R. Dana (title) Two years before the mast. 1921 G. C. Borley Lost Horizon i. iv. 50 I started afore the mast when I was fourteen, 'ardly, and been through the grill. 2002 D. Lundy Way of Ship (2003) 14 Benjamin's passage as a sailor before the mast..is, in part, the mere account of a young man learning the ropes. < as lemmas |
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