avast
(nautical) hold fast!; desist!; stay!.
(slang, in imitation of pirates) listen!; pay attention!
• “Avast hauling!” (meaning, “stop hauling”) is (or was, in 1950) still commonly used in U.S. Navy deck operations.
• The slang use in imitation of pirate talk is based on a misconstruction of the meaning. If uttered by a historical sailor, the meaning of the sentence “Avast, ye landlubbers” would have been, “Desist, you novice seamen”.
• (hold fast): See Thesaurus:avast
• (pay attention): See Thesaurus:heads up
• Vasta, tavas
Source: Wiktionary
A*vast", interj. Etym: [Corrupted from D. houd vast hold fast. See Hold, v. t., and Fast, a.] (Naut.)
Definition: Cease; stop; stay. "Avast heaving." Totten.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
25 May 2025
(noun) a bronchodilator (trade names Ventolin or Proventil) used for asthma and emphysema and other lung conditions; available in oral or inhalant forms; side effects are tachycardia and shakiness
The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.
