How do you use the word "hoist" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "hoist": Give me a hoist. Hoist your sail when the wind is fair.

Hoist Meaning

/hɔɪst/

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

verbTo 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).

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

Sentence Examples

Give me a hoist.

Hoist your sail when the wind is fair.

Synonyms & Antonyms

Synonyms:

wind lift

Antonyms:

None

CEFR Practice Quiz

The workers used a crane to ____ the heavy steel beams to the top floor.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The builders used a powerful ____ to lift the heavy steel beams up to the top floor of the building.

Word Origin & History

Alteration of earlier hoise (“to hoist”), apparently based on the past tense forms, from Middle Dutch hisen (“to hoist”). Compare modern Dutch hijsen (“to hoist”), German hissen (“to hoist”), Danish hejse (“to hoist”). Compare also French hisser (“to hoist”), Galician isar (“to hoist”), Spanish izar (“to hoist”), Catalan hissar (“to hoist”), Italian issare (“to hoist”), Portuguese içar (“to hoist”), Sicilian jisari (“to hoist”), all borrowed from a Germanic source.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"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: […]" — 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:

"They land my goods, and hoist my flying sails." — 1725, Alexander Pope, The Odyssey, translation of original by Homer:

"[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:

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