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vast

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: VAST, väst, and -vast

English

Etymology

From Middle French vaste, from Latin vastus (void, immense). Related to waste and German Wüste.

Pronunciation

Adjective

vast (comparative vaster or more vast, superlative vastest or most vast)

  1. Very large or wide (literally or figuratively).
    The Sahara desert is vast.
    There is a vast difference between them.
    • 2022 December 30, Gregory Wallace, “Insiders at Southwest reveal how the airline’s service imploded”, in CNN:
      They and the airline itself described an internal process that requires multiple departments to manually redesign the airline’s schedule – a system that works “the vast majority of the time,” Southwest said in a statement.
  2. Very great in size, amount, degree, intensity, or especially extent.
    • 1658, Thomas Browne, “The Garden of Cyrus. []. Chapter III.”, in Hydriotaphia, Urne-buriall, [] Together with The Garden of Cyrus, [], London: [] Hen[ry] Brome [], →OCLC, page 136:
      The exiguity and ſmallneſſe of ſome ſeeds extending to large productions is one of the magnalities of nature, ſomewhat illuſtrating the work of the Creation, and vaſt production from nothing.
    • 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 703:
      Another place where, from the aesthetic point of view, a long tunnel would have been a real blessing, is East London as viewed from the carriage window on the old Great Eastern line. Despite a vast change from crowded slums to tracts of wasteland, due to its grim wartime experience, this approach still provides a shabby and unworthy introduction to the great capital.
    • 2012 March-April, Anna Lena Phillips, “Sneaky Silk Moths”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, archived from the original on 19 February 2013, page 172:
      Last spring, the periodical cicadas emerged across eastern North America. Their vast numbers and short above-ground life spans inspired awe and irritation in humans—and made for good meals for birds and small mammals.
  3. (obsolete) Waste; desert; desolate; lonely.

Translations

Noun

vast (plural vasts)

  1. (poetic) A vast space.

Derived terms

Anagrams

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin vāstus.

Pronunciation

Adjective

vast (feminine vasta, masculine plural vasts or vastos, feminine plural vastes)

  1. vast, wide
  • vastitud

Further reading

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Dutch

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch vast, from Old Dutch fast, from Proto-West Germanic *fastī, from Proto-Germanic *fastuz.

Adjective

vast (comparative vaster, superlative meest vast or vastst)

  1. firm, fast, tight
  2. fixed, not moving or changing
    Kunnen we de vaste lasten dragen?Can we sustain the fixed costs?
  3. stuck, unable to get out
    Haar hand zat vast in het gat.Her hand was stuck in the hole.
  4. (chemistry) in the solid state
    Bij kamertemperatuur is het een vaste stof.It is a solid substance at room temperature.
  5. (botany) perennial
    Hij heeft een aantal vaste planten gepoot.He has planted a few perennial plants.
  6. (of a telephone) using a landline
    Is er een vaste verbinding?Is there a landline connection?
Declension
More information Declension of, uninflected ...
Derived terms
Descendants
  • Afrikaans: vas
  • Berbice Creole Dutch: vasi
  • Negerhollands: vast, vas
  • ? Sranan Tongo: fasi, fasti

Adverb

vast

  1. (obsolete) almost; about; close to
  2. surely, certainly
    Synonym: zeker
    vast en zekermost certainly
  3. (informal, sarcastically) sure, yeah, right
    Mijn hond at mijn huiswerk.Ja, vast!
    My dog ate my homework. Yeah, right!

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

vast

  1. inflection of vasten:
    1. first/second/third-person singular present indicative
    2. imperative

Estonian

Ingrian

Livonian

Ludian

Old Norse

Romani

Romanian

Veps

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