▪ I. gast, n. Sc.
(gæst)
[f. gast v.1]
A fright.
| [Cf. quot. 1420 s.v. gast ppl. a.] a 1684 R. Law Mem. (1818) 220 The woman in a gast..comes and tells her lady who had stollen her things. 1873 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb (ed. 3) 96 ‘Aw never got sic a gast's aw got the nicht.’ |
▪ II. gast, a. dial.
(gæst)
[app. cognate with geason; cf. MDu. gâst, gêst (Du. geest), barren soil, geest.]
(See quots. a 1825 and 1895.)
| 1729 Corton Parish (Suffolk) Terrier, Every Gast Beast, i.e. for every Heifer or young Steer. 1760 Ibid., Barren or gast cattle. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Gast or Ghast-Cow, a cow which does not produce a calf in the season. 1895 E. Anglian Gloss., Gast..Also applied to mares. |
▪ III. † gast, v.1 Obs.
Forms: 1 gǽstan, 4 gaast, 6 ghast, 4–7 gast(e.
[OE. gǽstan (only once):—OTeut. type *gaistjan, app. cogn. w. Goth. usgaisjan to terrify, usgeisnan to be terrified. See ghost.]
trans. To frighten, alarm, scare, terrify.
(In quot. c 1000 the sense seems to be rather ‘to torture’ or ‘to destroy’.)
| c 1000 Juliana 17 in Exeter Bk., Hi..gæston godes cempan gare and lige. 1362 Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 129 To..Gaste crowen from his corn. 1382 Wyclif 2 Kings xxii. 19 Thi herte is gaastyde. 1412–20 Lydg. Chron. Troy i. v, And gasten men with sodeyn erth quaue. 1422 tr. Secreta Secret., Priv. Priv. (E.E.T.S.) 215 Thou shalte haue many rynnynge engyns to make horribill Sownes to gasten thyn enemys. 1530 Palsgr. 560/2, I gaste hym as sore as he was these twelve monethes. 1592 Stow Ann. an. 1586. 1228 These men..were..so ghasted with feare..that they looked rather like to ghostes than men. 1605 Shakes. Lear ii. i. 57 Or whether gasted by the noyse I made, Full sodainely he fled. 1616 J. Lane Cont. Sqr.'s T. ix. 413 note, So Pirrus lookes in Argos gastes his ffoes. |
▪ IV. † gast, v.2 Obs.
[? ad. OF. gaster, guaster, waster: see waste v. (But cf. quot. c. 1000 in prec.)]
trans. ? To ruin, spoil.
| a 1310 in Wright Lyric P. xxxi. 90 Whet helpeth the, my suete lemmon, my lyf thus forte gaste? |
▪ V. † gast, ppl. a.
[pa. pple. of gast v.1]
Terrified, afraid. for gast: for fear.
| 13.. Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 325, I know no gome þat is gast of þy grete wordes. c 1340 Cursor M. 5814 (Trin.) He was gast So ferde þat he to fle bigon. 1382 Wyclif Jer. viii. 9 Confoundid ben the wise men, gast and caȝt thei ben. c 1420 Chron. Vilod. 777 He durst not meve hurrself for gast. Ibid. 1006 When þuse ladyes weron areson up to han ygon..Towarde herre chambers for gast every chon. 1500–20 Dunbar Poems lxxiv. 19 Me think my spireit rynnis away full gast. 1575 Mirr. Mag., Nennius xxxii, Thou neuer wast in all thy life so gast, Nor durst againe be euer halfe so bold. |
▪ VI. gast
obs. form of ghost.