hoist

present singular third person hoists · participle present hoisting · participle past hoisted · past hoisted

1. transitiveTo raise; to lift; to elevate (especially, to raise or lift to a desired elevation, by means of tackle or pulley, said of a sail, a flag, a heavy package or weight).

   They land my goods, and hoist my flying sails.

   1725, Alexander Pope, The Odyssey, translation of original by Homer

   4 more examples

   For tis the ſport to haue the enginer / Hoiſt with his ovvne petar, an't ſhall goe hard / But I vvill delue one yard belovve their mines, / And blovve them at the Moone: […]

   For it's amusing to have the engineer / Lifted into the sky with his own explosive, and if I'm lucky / I will dig one yard below their mines, / And blow them towards the Moon: […]

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], signature [I4], verso

   [Abasalom's] ambition would needs be fingering the sceptre, and hoisting him into his father's throne

   1675 October 17, Robert South, “Sermon XI. Of the odious Sin of Ingratitude”, in Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, published 1866

   […] but this last was so heavy, I could not hoist it up to get it over the ship's side.

   1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC

   Between us, with much trouble, we managed to hoist him upstairs, and laid him on his bed, where his head fell back on the pillow, as if he were almost fainting.

   1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC

2. figurativelyoftentransitivehobbiesTo lift a trophy or similar prize into the air in celebration of a victory.

   And when skipper Richie McCaw hoisted the Webb Ellis Trophy high into the night, a quarter of a century of hurt was blown away in an explosion of fireworks and cheering.

   2011 October 23, Tom Fordyce, “2011 Rugby World Cup final: New Zealand 8-7 France”, in BBC Sport

3. historicaltransitiveTo lift someone up to be flogged.

   Again Pilatus answered them, What shall I do to the Jew’s king? They again cried out and said, Hoist him! Then said Pilatus, What evil did he? They so much the more cried, Hoist him!

   1881, H.C. Leonard, A Translation of the Anglo-Saxon Version of St. Mark’s Gospel, page 83

4. intransitiveTo be lifted up.
5. transitivecomputingTo extract (code) from a loop construct as part of optimization.
6. slangtransitiveTo steal.

   When you’ve reached neutral territory, when you’ve stashed the loot hoisted from the warlord’s mansion – well, he didn't have much use for it any more, did he?

   2006, Margaret Atwood, The Tent

7. slangtransitiveTo rob.

   Why, it was nothing to travel about the country with fifty grand worth of ice on me. Suppose I hadn’t packed a roscoe—hell, I’d of been hoisted once a week!

   1948, Leslie Charteris, Saint Errant, page 103

plural hoists

1. Any member of certain classes of devices that hoist things.
2. The act of hoisting; a lift.

   Give me a hoist over that wall.

3. The triangular vertical position of a flag, as opposed to the flying state, or triangular vertical position of a sail, when flying from a mast.
4. The position of a flag (on a mast) or of a sail on a ship when lifted up to its highest level.
5. The position of a main fore-and-aft topsail on a ship and fore fore-and-aft topsail on a ship.