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Mast vs Past - What's the difference?

mast | past |

As a pronoun mast

is .

As a verb past is

.

mast

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) mast, from (etyl) , Irish adhmad.

Noun

(en noun)
  • A tall, slim post or tower, usually tapering upward, used to support, for example, the sails on a ship, flags, floodlights, or communications equipment such as an aerial, usually supported by guy-wires.
  • In naval tradition, a mast is a non-judicial punishment ("NJP") disciplinary hearing under which a commanding officer studies and disposes of cases involving those in his command.
    • Derived terms
    {{der3, foremast , mainmast , masthead , mizzenmast , before the mast}}

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To supply and fit a mast to a ship

    • See also

    (other terms) * boom * crow's nest * flagpole * spar * top, maintop, foretop, mizzentop * tower * column * pole * pylon * tower

    Etymology 2

    (etyl) , from West Germanic; probably related to meat.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The fruit of forest-trees (beech, oak, chestnut, pecan, etc.), especially if having fallen from the tree, used as fodder for pigs and other animals.
  • * 1955 , (Robin Jenkins), The Cone-Gatherers , Canongate 2012, page 162:
    • He would begin to pick up the seed-cases or mast , squeeze each one with his fingers to see if it were fertile, and drop it if it were not.
  • * (rfdate) Chapman
    • Oak-mast , and beech, and cornel fruit, they eat.
  • * (rfdate) South
    • Swine under an oak filling themselves with the mast .

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (of swine and other animals) To feed on forest seed or fruit.
  • (agriculture, forestry, ecology, of a population of plants) To vary fruit and seed production in multi-year cycles.
  • *
  • * {{quote-book, title=Forest Diversity and Function: Temperate and Boreal Systems, page=28,
    • books.google.com/books?isbn=3540221913, author=Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Christian Körner, Ernst-Detlef Schulze, year=2004, passage=However, if this were true, all or most masting' species (e.g., ''Fagus'' and ''Quercus'') in a forest would have to ' mast in synchrony to be effective against generalist herbivores.}}
  • *

    • Related terms

    * mast cell

    Anagrams

    * ----

    past

    English

    (wikipedia past)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The period of time that has already happened, in contrast to the present and the future.
    • a book about a time machine that can transport people back into the past
  • * D. Webster
    • The past , at least, is secure.
  • * Trench
    • The present is only intelligible in the light of the past , often a very remote past indeed.
  • (grammar) The past tense.

    • Derived terms

    (Terms derived from the noun "past") * blast from the past * in the past * past anterior * past continuous * past historic * past participle * past perfect * past progressive * past simple * past tense * simple past

    See also

    * preterite

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having already happened; in the past; finished.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=7 citation , passage=The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures.}}
  • (postmodifier) Following expressions of time to indicate how long ago something happened; ago.
  • * 1999 , (George RR Martin), A Clash of Kings , Bantam 2011, p. 538:
    • That had been, what, three years past ?
  • * 2009 , , Glencoe , Amberley 2009, p. 20:
    • Some four decades past , as a boy, I had a chance encounter and conversation with the late W.A. Poucher [...].
  • Of a period of time: having just gone by; previous.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 23, work=(The Guardian), author=Angelique Chrisafis
    • , title=François Hollande on top but far right scores record result in French election citation , passage=Sarkozy's total will be seen as a personal failure. It is the first time an outgoing president has failed to win a first-round vote in the past 50 years and makes it harder for Sarkozy to regain momentum.}}
  • (grammar) Of a tense, expressing action that has already happened or a previously-existing state.

    • Adverb

    (en adverb)
  • in a direction that passes
    • I watched him walk past

    Preposition

    (English prepositions)
  • beyond in place, quantity or time
    • the room past mine
    count past twenty
    past midnight
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=April 22 , author=Sam Sheringham , title=Liverpool 0-1 West Brom , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=But they were stunned when Glen Johnson's error let in Peter Odemwingie to fire past Pepe Reina on 75 minutes.}}

    Usage notes

    * The preposition past is used to tell the time. The time 5:05 is said as five past five. 5:10 as ten past five. 5:15 as quarter past five. 5:20 as twenty past five. 5:25 as twenty-five past five. 5:30 as half past five. If we are aware of the approximate time, we can just use e.g. five past, ten past etc. See the example below. *: I thought it was about six o'clock, but it was actually ten past . * Compare with to (five to, ten to, quarter to, twenty to, twenty-five to) * See also: o'clock

    Related terms

    * past master * past it

    Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * 1000 English basic words ----