hoist
Americanverb (used with object)
-
hoists,
present (3rd person singular)
-
hoisted,
past participle, past
-
hoisting
present participle
-
to raise or lift, especially by some mechanical appliance.
to hoist a flag; to hoist the mainsail.
- Synonyms:
- elevate
- Antonyms:
- lower
-
to raise to one's lips and drink; drink (especially beer or whiskey) with gusto.
Let's go hoist a few beers.
-
Archaic. a simple past tense and past participle of hoise.
noun
-
hoists
plural
-
an apparatus for hoisting, as a block and tackle, a derrick, or a crane.
-
act of hoisting; a lift.
Give that sofa a hoist at your end.
-
Nautical.
-
the vertical dimension amidships of any square sail that is hoisted with a yard.
-
the distance between the hoisted and the lowered position of such a yard.
-
the dimension of a fore-and-aft sail along the luff.
-
a number of flags raised together as a signal.
-
-
(on a flag)
-
the vertical dimension as flown from a vertical staff.
-
the edge running next to the staff.
-
idioms
verb
-
(tr) to raise or lift up, esp by mechanical means
-
See petard
noun
-
any apparatus or device for hoisting
-
the act of hoisting
-
nautical
-
the amidships height of a sail bent to the yard with which it is hoisted Compare drop
-
the difference between the set and lowered positions of this yard
-
-
nautical the length of the luff of a fore-and-aft sail
-
nautical a group of signal flags
-
the inner edge of a flag next to the staff Compare fly 1
Synonym Usage
See raise.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
hoistsimple
-
hoistssimple
-
have hoistedperfect
-
has hoistedperfect
-
am hoistingprogressive
-
are hoistingprogressive
-
is hoistingprogressive
-
have been hoistingperfect progressive
-
has been hoistingperfect progressive
Past
-
hoistedsimple
-
had hoistedperfect
-
was hoistingprogressive
-
were hoistingprogressive
-
had been hoistingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of hoist
First recorded in 1540–50; later variant of hoise, with -t as in against, etc.
Explanation
To hoist is to raise up or lift, like a crane or forklift would. You can hoist yourself up onto the roof to get a better view, or hoist your teammate onto your shoulders after she scores the winning goal. This word is generally used to describe heavier lifting, like the hoisting of a fallen tree onto the bed of a truck or hoisting the Super Bowl trophy over your head after the big game. In nautical terms, where it comes up often, hoist refers to a group of flags that are raised all at once to communicate a signal.
Vocabulary lists containing hoist
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Here, a filmmaker who managed to reach the peak of Olympus makes the prideful, ill-fated decision to hoist a ladder toward the stars, trying to get even higher, past where even the Gods can see.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
By the time the new bed extension and hoist were to be installed, in September 2025, Hull had become too ill, and died soon after.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
In addition to Portugal, another nation targeted by Levy’s AI model is Morocco — representing a continent, Africa, that has never seen one of its nations hoist the trophy.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
Their faces are pasted on walls and lampposts across Mexico, and demonstrators regularly hoist banners demanding the return of loved ones whose names are memorialized in chants.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 6, 2026
She'd climbed down with Henry and was back at the top before him, the rest of us waiting at the edge, cold wind, jitters, springing to hoist her up; dead? is he...?
From "The Secret History" by Donna Tartt
By most measures, the United States still hoists plenty of power on the global stage.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 2026
Leonor Torres hoists a dress as she closes shop after another slow day of sales.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
By the time Bridges hoists a 3-pointer from the corner, Wembanyama may as well be in another time zone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 7, 2026
Whichever team hoists the winning World Cup soccer trophy this summer will be the recipients of a very valuable prize, thanks to rising gold prices.
From MarketWatch ● May 7, 2026
She hoists me up by my armpits and drags me across the yard.
From "Inside Out and Back Again" by Thanhha Lai
I deserved to be hoisted in the air in a true “Dirty Dancing” moment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
Barely a week after they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy, the Allen estate announced that the team was up for sale.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
She and del Vecchio were alleged to have hoisted a flag of the Islamic State group in the reserve where the couple disappeared in 2018.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
They hoisted it onto a crate, while one worker held its pointed top to keep it from falling.
From Barron's ● Jun. 15, 2026
The BFG grabbed the dangling rope and was hoisted out of the pit just in time.
From "The BFG" by Roald Dahl
Microsoft on Tuesday sought to reassure European users with a "multi-billion-dollar" deal to rent AI infrastructure from Mistral, hoisting the French developer into the lucrative business of renting compute capacity.
From Barron's ● Jul. 21, 2026
And in his eyes, success would be nothing less than hoisting the trophy on July 19 in New Jersey.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Mike Nichols’ zeitgeisty hit opens on a shot of the Statue of Liberty hoisting her torch like a paycheck.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
They barely finish before other mids start hoisting each other into a crude human pyramid.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2026
They dashed to the nearest skiff, where they dropped their things and tackled the ropes, untying lines, hoisting sails.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
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.
