The Collaborative International Dictionary
Afore \A*fore"\, prep.
Before (in all its senses). [Archaic]
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(Naut.) Before; in front of; farther forward than; as, afore the windlass.
Afore the mast, among the common sailors; -- a phrase used to distinguish the ship's crew from the officers.
Mast \Mast\, n. [AS. m[ae]st, masc.; akin to D., G., Dan., & Sw. mast, Icel. mastr, and perh. to L. malus.]
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(Naut.) A pole, or long, strong, round piece of timber, or spar, set upright in a boat or vessel, to sustain the sails, yards, rigging, etc. A mast may also consist of several pieces of timber united by iron bands, or of a hollow pillar of iron or steel.
The tallest pine Hewn on Norwegian hills, to be the mast Of some great ammiral.
--Milton.Note: The most common general names of masts are foremast, mainmast, and mizzenmast, each of which may be made of separate spars.
(Mach.) The vertical post of a derrick or crane.
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(A["e]ronautics) A spar or strut to which tie wires or guys are attached for stiffening purposes.
Afore the mast, Before the mast. See under Afore, and Before.
Mast coat. See under Coat.
Mast hoop, one of a number of hoops attached to the fore edge of a boom sail, which slip on the mast as the sail is raised or lowered; also, one of the iron hoops used in making a made mast. See Made.
Usage examples of "afore the mast".
His life had been spent entirely in whalers, a particularly democratic set of vessels in which the hands worked not for wages but for shares of what the ship might earn, and in which, although there was the necessary minimum of discipline, there was little sense of hierarchy among the thirty-odd people - certainly nothing resembling that of the Navy with its far greater numbers, its different worlds afore the mast and abaft it, its different essences of humanity.