intj. (nautical).—Hold! Stop! Stay!
1681. OTWAY, The Soldier’s Fortune, iv. i. Hoa up, hoa up; so, AVAST there, sir.
1748. SMOLLETT, Roderick Random, xli. ‘AVAST there, friend: none of your tricks upon travellers.’ Ibid. (1751), Peregrine Pickle, xcvii. ‘And upon this scrap of paper—no, AVAST—that’s my discharge from the parish.’
1883. W. C. RUSSELL, Sailors’ Language, s.v. AVAST. An order to stop hauling or heaving; pronounced ’vast. A word going out of fashion as used among seamen, who would formerly say ‘Vast there!’ meaning, Stop that talking. It is now confined to ship’s work. Ibid. (1884), Jack’s Courtship, xiv. But AVAST now! we’ve had enough of philosopherising.
