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avast

American  
[uh-vast, uh-vahst] / əˈvæst, əˈvɑst /

verb

Nautical.

  1. (used as a command to stop or cease).

    Avast heaving!
avast British  
/ əˈvɑːst /

  1. nautical stop! cease!

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of avast

1675–85; perhaps < Dutch houd vast hold fast ( see hold 1, fast 1)

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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