vastn.
/vɑːst/, /vast/, U.S. /væst/ 1.
a. A vast or immense space. Chiefly poetic, and frequently with adjectives.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [noun] > vast extent > that which is
latitude?a1475
sea1585
ocean1590
vasture1596
vast1604
vastity1652
vastness1674
immense1791
breadths1839
vastitude1841
Atlantic1865
wide1916
1604 E. Grimeston tr. J. de Acosta Nat. & Morall Hist. Indies i. ii. 5 That great Chaos, and infinite Vast, which the ancient Philosophers affirmed to bee vnder the earth.
1609 W. Shakespeare Pericles xi. 1 The God of this great Vast, rebuke these surges. View more context for this quotation
a1711 T. Ken Anodynes in Wks. (1721) III. 442 I then would higher soar, and cast My eyes o're the Ethereal Vast.
1725 E. Fenton in A. Pope et al. tr. Homer Odyssey I. iv. 683 By Juno's guardian aid, the wat'ry Vast Secure of storms, your royal brother past.
1794 W. Taylor in J. W. Robberds Mem. W. Taylor (1843) I. 150 Our souls the bands of death shall tear, Through the whole starry vast to range.
1818 J. Keats Endymion iii. 146 Far as the mariner on highest mast Can see all round upon the calmed vast.
1850 Ld. Tennyson In Memoriam Epil. 209 A soul shall draw from out the vast And strike his being into bounds. View more context for this quotation
1898 T. Hardy Wessex Poems 72 And up from the vast a murmuring passed As from a wood of pines.
b. Const. of (heaven, sea, etc.). Also figurative.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 329 Vrchins Shall for that vast of night, that they may worke All exercise on thee. View more context for this quotation
a1649 W. Drummond Wks. (1711) 34/2 Such as do Nations govern, and command Vasts of the Sea and Emperies of Land.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost vi. 203 Through the vast of Heav'n It sounded. View more context for this quotation
1795 W. Blake Song of Los 42 And all the vast of Nature shrunk Before their shrunken eyes.
1838 E. Cook England iv I'd tread the vast of mountain range, or spot serene and flowered.
1872 ‘G. Eliot’ Middlemarch III. v. xlv. 23 Which need never stop short at the boundary of knowledge, but can draw for ever on the vasts of ignorance.
2. dialect. A very great number or amount.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun] > a large number or multitude
sandc825
thousandc1000
un-i-rimeOE
legiona1325
fernc1325
multitudec1350
hundred1362
abundancec1384
quantityc1390
sight1390
felec1394
manyheada1400
lastc1405
sortc1475
infinityc1480
multiplie1488
numbers1488
power1489
many1525
flock1535
heapa1547
multitudine1547
sort1548
myriads1555
myriads1559
infinite1563
tot-quot1565
dickera1586
multiplea1595
troop1596
multitudes1598
myriad1611
sea-sands1656
plurality1657
a vast many1695
dozen1734
a good few1756
nation1762
vast1793
a wheen (of)1814
swad1828
lot1833
tribe1833
slew1839
such a many1841
right smart1842
a million and one1856
horde1860
a good several1865
sheaf1865
a (bad, good, etc.) sortc1869
immense1872
dunnamuch1875
telephone number1880
umpty1905
dunnamany1906
skit1913
umpteen1919
zillion1922
gang1928
scrillion1935
jillion1942
900 number1977
gazillion1978
fuckload1984
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [noun] > vastness of quantity or amount > (a) vast quantity or amount
worldOE
seaa1200
fernc1325
mountain1570
ocean1590
microcosm1611
immensity1778
vast1793
worldful1835
oceanful1838
megaton1971
1793 Piper of Peebles 14 A vast o' fouk a' round about Come to the feast.
c1820 J. Hogg Shepherd's Wedding i They couldna get them [sc. leisters] sindry, else there had been a vast o bludeshed.
a1825– in dialect glossaries (E. Anglia, Yks., Leic., etc.)
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour i. v. 23 It takes a vast of clothes, even at Oxford prices, to come to a thousand pounds.
1888 Huxley in Life (1900) II. xii. 188 I took a vast of trouble (as the country folks say) about it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
vastadj.adv.
/vɑːst/, /vast/, U.S. /væst/ 1. Of very great or large dimensions or size; huge, immense, enormous.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > huge
unmeeteOE
unmeetlyOE
hugea1275
hideousc1330
infinitec1385
unmeasureda1398
unmeasurablec1405
hugyc1420
immeasurable1440
ingentc1450
unmeetlyc1450
giant1480
immense1490
monstrous?a1513
unmeasurely1513
hugeousa1529
unportable1537
enormous1544
enormc1560
giantly1561
immensible1579
rouncival1582
dismeasured1584
vast1585
immeasured1590
gargantuan1596
omnipotent1596
colossian1601
immane1601
prodigious1601
Polyphemian1602
Titanian1603
titanical1603
gigantical1604
immensive1604
gigantine1605
colossic1607
gigantean1611
Gogmagotical1612
gigantal?1614
Babylonian1617
leviathan1625
titanic1628
elephantine1631
gigantive1638
colossean1644
decumanal1652
immensurate1654
gigant1658
decuman1659
colossal1664
abnormous1710
Brobdingnagian1728
Brobdingnag1731
Pantagruelian1737
heroic1785
Patagonian1786
seven-league1787
Titan1793
gigantic1797
seven-leagued1799
mammoth1801
dimensionless1813
tremendous1813
gigantesque1821
monster1837
titanesque1838
monstre1840
giantlike1847
leviathanic1848
pythonic1851
Babylonic1853
supercolossal1871
giantesque1909
behemothian1910
supergiant1919
ginormous1942
big-ass1945
Ozymandian1961
fuck-off1962
mega1968
humongous1970
monstro1970
big-assed1972
big-arsed1996
1585 Abp. E. Sandys Serm. xxi. 360 If ye compare..one of smale stature, with a vast giant,..the combat could not choose but seeme in all pointes verie vnequall.
1603 P. Holland tr. Plutarch Morals 294 Unskilfull cutters..are of opinion that the enormous and huge statues, called Colosses, which they cut, will seeme more vast and mightie if they frame them stradling with their legs.
1666 R. Boyle Origine Formes & Qualities 171 These Bodies, that are the vastest and the most important of the Sublunary World.
1714 A. Pope Rape of Lock (new ed.) v. 44 Three Seal-Rings, which after, melted down, Form'd a vast Buckle for his Widow's Gown.
1762 H. Walpole Vertue's Anecd. Painting I. vii. 130 A vast ruff, a vaster fardingale..are the features by which every body knows at once the pictures of Queen Elizabeth.
1860 J. Tyndall Glaciers of Alps ii. xvii. 315 On the ice cascades..the river glacier has piled vast blocks on vaster pedestals.
1867 M. E. Herbert Cradle Lands vi. 155 It is not a single building, but rather a vast collection of chambers and galleries.
2. in combination.1861 J. C. H. Fane & Ld. Lytton Tannhäuser 85 The sun, About him drawing the vast-skirted clouds.1888 F. Hume Madame Midas i. Prol. 13 From thence it spread inland into vast-rolling pastures.
a. Of great or immense extent or area; extensive, far-stretching.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > measurable spatial extent > largeness > [adjective] > of vast extent
broadOE
sideOE
wideOE
largec1230
spaciousa1382
unridea1425
amplea1492
well-spreadc1540
main1548
overreaching1579
widespread1582
spacious1587
wide-spreading1587
scopeful1598
vasty1598
scopious1599
vast1600
worldwide1602
spaceful1621
dimensious1632
voluminousa1661
extensive1706
sheety1748
sweeping1772
extended1779
expansive1806
wide-spreaded1820
heaven-wide1835
spanless1847
rangy1898
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream v. i. 9 One sees more diuels, then vast hell can holde. View more context for this quotation
1600 J. Pory tr. J. Leo Africanus Geogr. Hist. Afr. vii. 290 Betweene which two Kingdomes lieth a vast desert being much destitute of water.
1615 W. Lawson Country Housewifes Garden (1626) 23 The top hath the vast aire to spread his boughs in.
1663 S. Butler Hudibras: First Pt. i. i. 25 Thorough Deserts vast And Regions desolate they past.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iii, in tr. Virgil Wks. 112 Such an extent of Plains, so vast a space Of Wilds unknown..Allures their Eyes. View more context for this quotation
1722 W. Wollaston Relig. of Nature (1724) v. 79 What a vast field for contemplation is here opened!
1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth I. 100 The river..overflowed the adjacent country, like a vast lake.
1816 J. Wilson City of Plague ii. iii. 292 Another month, and I am left alone In the vast city.
1865 W. G. Palgrave Narr. Journey through Arabia I. 391 The circle of vision here embraces vaster plains and bolder mountains.
1871 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest (1876) IV. xvii. 70 Ruling over vast territory which had been held by the Earls.
b. Qualifying nouns of dimension.
ΚΠ
1677 G. Miege New Dict. French & Eng. i. sig. *Oooo4v/3 A Country of a vast extent.
1688 M. Prior Ode Exod. iii. 14 i The mysterious Gulph of vast Immensity.
a1721 M. Prior To C'tess of Devonshire i That Both, their Skill to this vast Height did raise, Be ours the Wonder, and be yours the Praise.
1725 D. Defoe New Voy. round World ii. 192 A Pit or Hole of a vast Depth.
1774 T. Pennant Tour Scotl. 1772 6 The church stands at a vast height above the town.
1814 W. Wordsworth Excursion iv. 192 A Temple framing of dimensions vast, And yet not too enormous for the sound Of human anthems. View more context for this quotation
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. x. 228 His vast breadth of shoulder.
c. In transferred or figurative uses.
ΚΠ
1736 Bp. J. Butler Analogy of Relig. ii. ii. 162 The Scheme of Nature..is evidently vast, even beyond all possible Imagination.
1738 J. Wesley Coll. Psalms & Hymns (new ed.) c. iv Vast as Eternity thy Love.
1785 W. Cowper Task vi. 218 But how should matter..satisfy a law So vast in its demands, unless impell'd [etc.].
1806 R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) I. 160 Time whelms us in the vast Inane.
1852 H. Rogers Eclipse of Faith 142 It must be accomplished in a cycle vast as those of the geological eras.
1869 C. Kingsley Lett. (1878) II. 292 Science is grown too vast for any one head.
1884 Congregational Year Bk. 56 Mightier wonders and vaster problems.
3. Of the mind, etc.: Unusually large or comprehensive in grasp or aims.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > understanding > intelligence, cleverness > high intelligence, genius > [adjective] > of mind, operations: broad, deep, strong
stronga1393
profounda1450
reachinga1500
ingenious1509
spacious1609
vast1610
vigorous1640
rugged1678
wide1717
broad1832
oceanica1834
in depth1959
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. i. 464 Cardinall Wolsey,..whose vast minde reached alwaies at things too high.
1650 R. Stapleton tr. F. Strada De Bello Belgico ii. 38 But the Prince of Orange and Count Egmont..were of vaster spirits then the rest.
1692 tr. C. de Saint-Évremond Misc. Ess. 372 Her Spirit is extensive without being Vast, never rambling so far in general Thoughts, as not to be able to return easily to singular Considerations.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 209. ⁋1 The Account we have of his vast Mind.
1743 P. Francis & W. Dunkin tr. Horace Odes (new ed.) I. i. xxxvii. 12 Vast in her Hopes, and giddy with Success.
1816 P. B. Shelley Alastor 20 With voice far sweeter than thy dying notes, Spirit more vast than thine.
4.
a. Very great, immense, enormous, in respect of amount, quantity, or number.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > great (of quantity/amount)
greata1325
no smalla1450
round1596
vengeance1602
main1609
vast1637
any1758
right smart1825
high-level1860
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > [adjective] > vast, immense, or huge
un-i-fohOE
ormeteOE
hugea1275
un-i-feiec1275
infinitec1385
ponderousa1400
hugeful1413
hugyc1420
thrice1470
felon?a1500
hugeousa1529
enormous1544
enormc1560
fell1586
prodigious1601
immensive1604
colossic1607
monumental1632
vast1637
unfathomed1659
colossal1664
ponderose1680
heroic1785
colossian1794
pyramidal1849
astronomical1871
astronomic1923
stratospheric1932
cosmic1935
ginormous1942
galactic1960
mega1968
humongous1970
1637 F. P. Verney & M. M. Verney Mem. Verney Family 17th Cent. (1907) I. 114 Yet what is all this but a small part of those vast treasures left him by his father.
a1661 T. Fuller Worthies (1662) Notts. 317 Sir Thomas Cooke, late Lord Mayor of London, one of vast wealth.
1681 J. Flavell Method of Grace xix. 341 No wise man expends vast sums to bring home trifling commodities.
1730 A. Gordon tr. F. S. Maffei Compl. Hist. Anc. Amphitheatres 64 The vast Rain which fell at that Time.
1760 R. Brown Compl. Farmer: Pt. 2 62 I have known vast crops of rye upon barren lands that have been old warrens, and well dunged with rabbits.
1796 H. Hunter tr. J.-H. B. de Saint-Pierre Stud. Nature (1799) I. 93 The members of the vast family of Mankind.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) IV. 369 Carrying away vast herds of cattle.
1855 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. III. xii. 210 The same tyranny..had robbed his Church of vast wealth.
1872 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 224 The Colorado River..sends a vast body of water to the Gulf of California.
b. With nouns of quality, action, etc.
ΚΠ
c1600 Life & Death Long Meg of Westm. ii On this Sir John de Castile, in a bravado, would needs make an experiment of her vast strength.
a1616 W. Shakespeare King John (1623) iv. iii. 153 Vast confusion waites..The iminent decay of wrested pompe. View more context for this quotation
1647 in Hamilton Papers (1880) 148 Soe unequall..where there is so vast a disproportion in the knowledge, abilities, and interests of the persons.
1718 N. Rowe tr. Lucan Pharsalia i. 89 Vast are the thanks thy grateful Rome shou'd pay To wars, which usher in thy sacred sway.
1765 Museum Rusticum 4 166 The same vast superiority will be found in every article of employment to which these waggons can be put.
1796 E. Burke Two Lett. Peace Regicide Directory France in Wks. (1808) VIII. 393 Most of them engage, for a short time at a vast price, every actor or actress of name in the metropolis.
1833 H. Martineau French Wines & Politics i. 15 Vast labour will be required to render these lands productive once more.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 174 His reading was vast, especially in theology.
c. With nouns denoting number or amount. (Passing into 5.)
ΚΠ
(a)
(b)1718 Mem. Life J. Kettlewell iii. cxvi. 478 He took a vast deal of Pains, nicely to Examine every Thing.1801 M. Edgeworth Forester in Moral Tales I. 34 Mackenzie, with artificial admiration, said a vast deal more than he thought.1858 C. Dickens Let. 26 Sept. (1995) VIII. 671 We have done a vast deal here.1872 W. Black Strange Adventures Phaeton xviii. 246 He showed her a vast amount of studied respect.1677 G. Miege New Dict. French & Eng. ii. sig. Ggg/2 A vast quantity, une grande quantité.
1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. 25 Nov. (1965) I. 286 The vast number of English crouds the Town so much.
1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson i. vii. 74 These rocks terminate in a vast number of ragged points.
1823 Edinb. Rev. 39 49 To put vast quantities of men into prison.
1857 H. T. Buckle Hist. Civilisation Eng. I. vii. 325 Disputes..now regarded with indifference by the vast majority of educated men.
1884 Marshall's Tennis Cuts 154 I saw a vast number, and examined them very carefully.
5.
a. In weakened sense as a mere intensive.Common in fashionable use in the 18th cent.: cf. vastly adv. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme
strangec1380
overpassinga1382
passinga1387
most?c1430
extremec1460
horriblea1464
violenta1500
mainc1540
immortal?c1550
exquisite1552
sore1555
three-piled1598
thundering1618
devilish1639
shrewda1643
deadly1660
woundy1681
vast1696
monstrous1711
mortal1716
terrific1743
hell-fired1754
hellish1764
colossal1794
severe1805
awful1818
all-fired1829
terrible1829
quare and1847
ferocious1877
pluperfect1889
raging1889
giddy1896
utter1898
stiff1905
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) Figuratively we say, such a one has a vast Fancy, a vast Wit, vast Parts, &c.
1700 S. L. tr. C. Frick Relation Voy. in tr. C. Frick & C. Schweitzer Relation Two Voy. E.-Indies 120 Every new and full Moon, the Sea drives 'em up in a vast way.
a1704 T. Brown Beauties to Armida in Wks. (1707) I. i. 66 I saw Armida to my vast surprize: So Rich in Charms.
1764 T. Reid Inq. Human Mind ii. §1 That most other bodies while exposed to the air are continually sending forth effluvia of vast subtilty.
1801 J. Strutt Glig-gamena Angel-ðeod ii. i. 61 They shot with vast precision to that distance.
1840 N. Hawthorne Sir W. Pepperell in Biogr. Sketches (1879) 186 An object of vast antipathy to many of the settled ministers.
1861 F. Metcalfe Oxonian in Iceland (1867) iii. 33 Their wise heads go everlasting..nidding, nodding, with vast solemnity.
b. a vast many, a great many. ? Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > number > plurality > great number, numerousness > [noun] > a large number or multitude
sandc825
thousandc1000
un-i-rimeOE
legiona1325
fernc1325
multitudec1350
hundred1362
abundancec1384
quantityc1390
sight1390
felec1394
manyheada1400
lastc1405
sortc1475
infinityc1480
multiplie1488
numbers1488
power1489
many1525
flock1535
heapa1547
multitudine1547
sort1548
myriads1555
myriads1559
infinite1563
tot-quot1565
dickera1586
multiplea1595
troop1596
multitudes1598
myriad1611
sea-sands1656
plurality1657
a vast many1695
dozen1734
a good few1756
nation1762
vast1793
a wheen (of)1814
swad1828
lot1833
tribe1833
slew1839
such a many1841
right smart1842
a million and one1856
horde1860
a good several1865
sheaf1865
a (bad, good, etc.) sortc1869
immense1872
dunnamuch1875
telephone number1880
umpty1905
dunnamany1906
skit1913
umpteen1919
zillion1922
gang1928
scrillion1935
jillion1942
900 number1977
gazillion1978
fuckload1984
1695 J. Woodward Ess. Nat. Hist. Earth 49 By..perpetual Circulation a vast many things in the System of Nature are transacted.
1722 D. Defoe Jrnl. Plague Year 22 The Restoration had brought a vast many Families to London.
1771 Hist. Sir W. Harrington (1797) III. 207 Jacob was sent out a vast many times.
1833 T. Hook Parson's Daughter II. ii. 37 But there are a vast many persons in the neighbourhood who would make suitable husbands for such a girl.
1853 N. Hawthorne Pomegranate Seeds in Tanglewood Tales It troubled her with a vast many tender fears.
c. adv. = vastly adv. Now dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adverb] > extremely or exceedingly > hugely or immensely
hugelyc1380
huge1508
enormly1538
monstruously?1548
massively1550
monstrously1602
a worlda1616
hugeouslya1643
immensely1654
vastly1664
swingingly1668
hugeous1673
gigantically1678
vast1688
swingeing1690
thumpingly1693
enormously1695
pancratically1727
immense1754
colossally1809
whooping1866
monumentally1877
pyramidically1886
pyramidally1891
galactically1968
1688 G. Miege Great French Dict. ii. sig. Cccc4v/1 A vast rich Town, une Ville fort riche.
1756 T. Amory Life John Buncle I. 504 Many vast high ones [sc. mountains] we crossed, and travelled through very wonderful glins.
1757 H. Brooke Female Officer i. viii He is vast expert at his weapon, truly!
?1790 D. Kilner Anecd. Boarding-school I. 47 I cannot say that I am vast fond of her.
?1790 D. Kilner Anecd. Boarding-school I. 98 Half a dozen of them all at once calling out, O! vast fine! vast fine!
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† vastv.
Obsolete. rare.
transitive. To lay waste, destroy.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > destroy [verb (transitive)] > devastate or lay waste (a place, etc.)
harryc893
fordoc900
awesteeOE
westeeOE
losec950
harrowc1000
destroyc1230
wastec1275
ravishc1325
to lie waste1338
exilea1382
to-wastea1382
unronea1400
desolatea1425
vast1434
fruster?a1513
to lay waste1535
wipe1535
devast1537
depopulate1548
populate1552
forwaste1563
ruinate1564
havoc1575
scourge1576
dispopulate1588
destitute1593
ravage1602
harassa1618
devastate1638
execute1679
to make stroy of1682
to lay in ashes1711
untown1783
hell-rake1830
uncity1850
R. Misyn tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life 119 For þe..fleschly sawle in-to behaldyng of þe godhede is not rauischyd bot if it be gostely, all fleschly lettyngis vastyd.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online June 2021).
vastphr.
/vɑːst/, /vast/, U.S. /væst/ Nautical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > ceasing > cease [interjection]
ho1390
holla1523
holla ho!a1616
avast1681
vast1841
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. 133 Avast, or 'Vast, an order to stop.
1894 Outing 24 72/2 ‘Vast!’ yells the coxswain, as the pier of the railroad bridge flies by.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1916; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
<
n.1604
adj.adv.1585
v.1434phr.1841