main-topmast Naut.
(meɪnˈtɒpmɑːst, -æ-, -məst)
Also 5 mane-.
[See main a. 10 and topmast.]
The mast next above the lower mainmast.
| 1495 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 269 The mane toppe maste. 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 12. 1634 Brereton Trav. (Chetham Soc.) 169 Upon the mainmast..there is also placed..the main top mast. 1762 Falconer Shipwr. iii. 584 While, in the general wreck, the faithful stay Drags the main-topmast from its post away. 1833 M. Scott Tom Cringle xvi. (1859) 424 Her maintopmast was gone close by the cap. |
b. attrib.: main-topmast-head, main-topmast-staysail.
| 1672 Lond. Gaz. No. 683/3, 3 English Seamen ran up to his Main-top-mast-head, and took down his Pendant. 1779 F. Hervey Nav. Hist. II. 157 He is said to have passed through the Channel, with a broom at his main-top-mast head. 1866 Daily Tel. 6 Feb. 3/3 At eight o'clock the maintopmast-staysail was carried away. |