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:
As early as 1815, the flooded young pueblo had to hoist its skirts and move up to higher ground.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
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
While we won’t know until then which country will hoist the golden trophy, plenty of other big winners have already emerged over the course of the past five-and-a-half weeks.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 17, 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
I struggled to hoist myself from the mattress.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
All will be forgiven if Allen delivers, reverses all those decades of bad juju and hoists the Lombardi hood ornament into the sky.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
He hoists the guitar and launches into a beautiful ballade.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 12, 2026
By most measures, the United States still hoists plenty of power on the global stage.
From Slate ● Jun. 8, 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
Without saying another word, she hoists his arm around her shoulder and shifts his weight onto her.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
Nor, it turns out, did a lot of people in the audience, who hoisted signs from the American Civil Liberties Union reading: “Get the Flock Out!”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
On the other, people hoisted signs: “Save the Garden,” “Keep Our Streets Public” and “Save Clearwater.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
The capital's largest outdoor music venue, Budapest Park -- which holds the official Pride after-party since 2018 -- hoisted a rainbow flag for the first time ever.
From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026
Across several neighbourhoods, the country's flags were hoisted on windows, balconies, and even on rooftops.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
He grabbed Percy’s arm and hoisted him to his feet.
From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan
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
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
Although Mr. Paré-Poupart also works as a writer and a social worker, it’s the physical challenge and camaraderie of garbage work that brings him “profound satisfaction and great joy” and keeps him hoisting heavy bins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
With some hoisting and grunting, Anya got Håkon on his feet.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
