half-mast

[ haf-mast, hahf-mahst ]

/ ˈhæfˈmæst, ˈhɑfˈmɑst /

noun

a position approximately halfway between the top of a mast, staff, etc., and its base.

verb (used with object)

to place (a flag) at half-mast, as a mark of respect for the dead or as a signal of distress.

Nearby words

half-line, half-liter, half-long, half-mad, half-marathon, half-mast, half-mile, half-miler, half-minute, half-moon, half-mourning

Origin of half-mast

First recorded in 1620–30

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for half-mast

Outside, somebody had taken care to lower the flags to half-mast.
The Resilient City: New York After 9/11|John Avlon|September 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
If a male performer is only flying at half-mast, he may have to spend more time trying to get ready than actually performing.
Blood, Sweat and Sex: My Hard Life in Porn|Aurora Snow|March 18, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Flags at the border crossing and private homes fly at half-mast in honor of Ivie.
Border Patrol Agent’s Death Dubbed Friendly Fire|Teresa Puente|October 6, 2012|DAILY BEAST
In a show of solidarity, liberal Republican Mayor John Lindsay ordered that flags be flown at half-mast.
George Bush Thanks a Terrorist|Max Blumenthal|December 18, 2008|DAILY BEAST

On the day before a member of the tiny European colony there had died of yellow fever, and all the flags were at half-mast.
A Camera Actress in the Wilds of Togoland|Meg Gehrts
Then he left it half-mast high, so as to show, in the way usual with seafaring people, that he required help and succour.
Godfrey Morgan|Jules Verne
The different flagstaffs, and the shipping at the wharves and in the harbor displayed their colors at half-mast.
A Sketch of the Causes, Operations and Results of the San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856|Stephen Palfrey Webb
For, from every main in the harbor, as far as eye could see, the flags of Windover floated at half-mast.
A Singular Life|Elizabeth Stuart Phelps
Then they reversed it and hoisted it half-mast high, and began to cheer for the Republic.
Jess|H. Rider Haggard

British Dictionary definitions for half-mast

half-mast

noun

the lower than normal position to which a flag is lowered on a mast as a sign of mourning or distress

verb

(tr) to put (a flag) in this position

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

Word Origin and History for half-mast

half-mast

1620s, from half + mast (n.1).

half-mast

noun

verb (used with object)

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Nearby words

Origin of half-mast

Examples from the Web for half-mast

British Dictionary definitions for half-mast

half-mast

noun

verb

Word Origin and History for half-mast

half-mast