Here - Norm's Book Club

VAST.
1793 Piper 0/ Peebles 14 A vast o* fouk a' round about
Come to the feast, c i8ao Hogg Sheph. Wedding i, They
couldna get them \sc. leisters] sindry, else there kad been a
vast o bludeshed. a 1825- in dialect glossaries (E. Anglia,
Yks.,Leic.,etc.). 1853 K.S. SuRTEEs6"f7a/eth. i860 Tyndall Glac. it. xvii.
315 On the ice ca?;cades. .the river glacier has piled vast
blocks on vaster pedestals. 1867 Lady Herbert Cro///^/..
vi. 155 It is not a single building, but rather a vast collection
of chambers and galleries.
ahsol. 1784 CowpFR Task v. 811 A ray of heav'niy light,
gilding all forms Terrestrial in the vast and the minute.
180S V\:!iuLKiE.v. Agric. Surv. Peebles. 18 The mountains,,,
too much upon the vast for beauty, are yet too tame for the
sublime.
2. Of great or immense extent or area; extensive,
far-stretching.
159a Shaks. Mids. -V. V. i. 9 One sees more diuels then
yaste hell can hold. 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa vii. 290
Betweene which two Kingdomes lieth a vast desert being
much destitute of water. 1615 \V, Lawson Country Houseiv.
Gard* (1626) 23 The top hath the vast aire to spread his
boughs in. 1663 Butler Hud. i. i. 327 Thorough Desarts
vast And Regions Desolate they past. 1697 Drydkn Virg.
Georg. III. 531 Such an extent of Plains, so vast a Space Of
Wilds unknown . . Allures their Eyes. fjz* Wollaston
Relig. l^at. v. (1724) 79 What a vast field for contemplation
is hereopened ! 1774 Coidsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) 1. 100 The
river, .overflowed the adjacent country, like a vast lake.
ifiifi J. WiLSo.** City 0/ Plague 11. iii. 29a Another month,
and I am left alone In the vast city. 1865 W. G. Palgrave
Arabia I. 391 The circle of vision here embraces vaster
plains and bolder mountains. 1871 Free.man Norm. Cong.
{ 1876) I V. xvii. 70 Ruling over vast territory which bad been
held by the Earls.
Comb. i86x Ld. Lyttom & Fase Tannhauser 85 The sun,
About him drawing the vast-skirted clouds. 1888 F. Hume
Mme. Midas r. Pro!,, From thence it spread inland into vastrolling
pastures.
b. Qualifying nonns of dimension,
1677 MifeGE Fr. Diet., i. s.v. Vaste^ A Country of a vast
extent. 1688 Prior A n Ode i, The mysterious Gulph of vast
Immensity, a 1731 — To C tess Dowager 0/ Devonsh. i,
'i'hat Both, their Skill to this vast Height did raise, Be ours
the Wonder, and be yours the Praise. i7»5 De Foe P'oy.
round lyorIJ {iZ\o) 345 A pit or hole of a vast depth. 1774
Ff-NNakt Tour. Scot, in iij2 6 The church stands at a vast
height above the town. 1809-14 Worosw. Excurs. iv, 1161
A temple framing of dimensions vast, And yet not too enormous
for the sound Of human anthems. 1865 Kimgsi-ey
Htrew. X, His vast breadth of shoulder.
c. In transf. or fig. uses.
1736 Butler Anal. 11, ii. Wks. 1874 I. 173 The scheme of
nature.. is evidently vast, even beyond all possible imagination.
1738 Wesley Ps. c. iv, Vast as Eternity thy Love.
X784 CowpF.x Task VI. aiS But how should matter.. satisfy
a law So vast in its demand.s, unless impell'd [etc.]. x8o6
R. Cumberland Mem. (1807) I. 160 lime whelms us in
the vast Inane. 185a H. Rogers Eel. Faith (1853) 142 It
must be accomplished in a cycle vast as those of the geological
eras. 1A69 Kingslev Lett. (187b) II. 292 Science Is
grown too vast for any one head. 1884 Congregational
Vear Bk. 56 Mightier wonders and vaster problems,
3. Of tile mind, etc. : Unusually large or comprehensive
in grasp or aims.
1610 Holland Camden's Brit, 464 Cardinall Wolsey, ..
whose vast minde reached alwayes at things too high. 1650
R. irriMWios Stradas Loxv-C, Wars ii. 38 But tlie Prince
of Orange and Count Egmont. .were of vaster spirits then
the rest. 169a Urvden St. Euremont's Ess. 373 Her Spirit
is extensive without being Vast, never rambling so far in
general Thoughts, as not to be able to return easily to
singular Considerations. 1710 Stefle Tatter No. 209 Fi
The Account we have of his vast Mind. 1743 Fkancis tr.
Horace, Odes 1. xxxvii. 12 Vast in her Hopes, and giddy wiili
Success, 1815 Shelley Alastor 287 With voice far sweeter
than thy dying notes, Spirit more vast than thine,
4. Very great, immense, enormous, in respect of
amount, quantity, or number.
i6w Veruey Mem. (1907)" I. 114 Vet what is alt this but a
small part of those vast treasures left him by his father.
fzi66t Fuller Worthies (1840) II. 571 Sir Thomas Cooke,
late lord mayor of London, one of vast wealth. 1681 Flavel
Metk. Grace xix. 341 No wi-;e man expends vast sums to
bring home trifling commodities. 1730 A. Gor[x>n Maffei^s
Amphith. 64 The vast Rain which fell at that Time. 1760
R. Brows CtJw///. Farmer n. 62, I have known vast crops of
rye upon barren lands that have been old warrens, and well
cfunged with rabbits. 1796 H. Hunter tr. St -Pierre's Study
Nat. (1799) I. g^Themcmliersofthe vast family of Mankind.
1838 Thirlwall Greece IV. 369 Carrying away vast herds of
cattle. 185s Macaulay Hist. Eng. xii. III. 210 The same
tyranny.. had robbed his Church of vast wealth, 1871
Raymoso Statist. Mines ^ Mining 724 The Colorado River
. .sends a vast body of water to the Gulf of California.
b. With nouns of quality, action, etc.
61
1595 Shaks. yohn iv. iii. 152 Vast confusion waites. .The
iminent decay of wrested pompe. c 1600 Life ^ Death
Long Meg 0/ Westm. ii, On this Sir John de Castile, in a
bravado, would needs make an experiment of her vast
strength, x^t Hamilton /*a^trrj (Camden) 148 Soe unequal!
..where there is so vast a disproportion in the knowledge,
abilities, and interests of the persons. 1718 Rowe tr. Lucan
I. 89 Vast are the thanks thy grateful Rome shou'd pay To
wars, which usher in thy sacred sway. 1765 Museum Rust.
IV. 166 The same vast superiority will be found in every
article of employment to which these waggons can be put.
1796 BuuKE Regie. Peace Wks. VIII. 393 Most of them
engage, for a short time at a vast price, every actor or actress
of name in the metropolis. 1833 ^t. Martineau Fr. Wines
e. . fleschly .sawle in-to
behaldyngof ^e godhede is not rauischyd bot if it be gostely,
ail fleschly lettyngis vastyd.
'Vast, Vast, apheticff. Avast,
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. ii-^A^'asl^ or 'I'ast^ an
order to stop. 1894 Outing XXIV. 72/2 ' Vast ! ' yells the
coxswain, as the pier of the railroad bridge flies by,
t Va'Stacy. Obs-"^ [f. Vast «,] Vastness.
1607 Tiberius Claudius Nero M 2, What Lidian desart,
Indian vastacie? What wildcrnesse in wilde Arabia, So
hateful! monster euer nourished?
t Va'Statei //''. «• Ods-"^ [ad. h. vastdl-uSf
pn. pple. oi vasldre,"] Laid waste; devastated,
1619 T. AuAMS Serm.^ Taming of Tongue Wks, 152 'Ihe
vast.itt: mines of ancient monuments.
Va'State, v* rare, [Cf, prec. and Vastatio.v
3.] trans. To render unsusceptible,
189s Harper's Mag. LXXXIV. 608/1 That long passion
of his early youth, which seemed to have vastated him
before he came there. He was rather proud of his vastation.
Vastation (vsest^'Jan). Also 6 vastacion.
[ad, L. vastdtion-f vastdtio, n, of action f. vastdre^
{.vastus waste. So It. vastazione^ Pg. vastafdo.']
1 1. The action of laying waste, devastating, or
destroying. Also freq., an instance of this. Obs.
(very common i6ro-i66o),
1545 Joye Exp. Dan. vii. 120 b, Howe greate vastacions
and destruccions in the chirche arc there prophecied I 1614
Raleigh Hist. World iv. i. $ i The Greekes..doc still, as in
former times, continue the inuasion and vastation of each
other. 01639 Si-OTTiSwooD Hist. Ch. Scot. in. (1677) 175
Thereupon insued a pitiful vastation of Churches and
Church-buildings. 1663 J. Spencer Prodigies (1665) 383
No war, no sedition, . no vastation,. .made so great a waste
upon the religion, .of that place.
t 2. The fact or condition of being devastated or
laid waste, Obs.
VASTLY,
1578 Banister Hist. Man v. 64 The whole masse of man
..must needes haue runne in perpetuall ruine, and vastation.
X617 Collins D^f Bp. Ely 11. x. 458 We lament their
desolation and vastation. 1639 Fuller Holy War in. xxiv.
(1840) 162 The sad spectacle of their country's vastation
would distuib their nnnds. 1653 Galijen Hierasp. To Rdr.
24 It may be through the Lords mercy, this winters floud
shall be for their mendment or fertility, and not for their
utter vastation and mine.
3, The action of purifying by the destruction of
evil qualities or elements. Also transf,
1847 Emerson Repr. Men, Swedenborg Wks. (Bohn) I.
328 He was let down through a column that seemed of
brass, ..that he might descend safely among the unhappy,
and witness the vastation of souls. 1888 J. Ellis New
Christianity xii. 290 Spirits preparing for heaven, or undergoing
vastation. 1892 [see Vastate v,\.
t Vastative, a. Obs.—^ [f. L. vast-dre : see
-ATlVE.] Devastating.
1667 Waterhouse Fire London 34 Circumstances, benign
to, and corresponding with a vastative event.
t Vastator. Obsr^ [a. L. vastdtor, agent-n. f.
vastdre.'\ Devastator.
1659 Gauden Tears Ch. 86 The cunning Adversaries and
Vasiators of the Church of England drive a lesser trade.
Vaate, southern ME. var. Kast a., adv., and v.-y
obs. Sc. f. Waste sb. and v. Vastell, obs. var.
Wastel. Vastering (obs. Sc.) : see W'astering.
tVastidity. Obs. [Irreg. var. Vastity,]
Vastness, vastitude.
1603 Shaks. Mcas, for M. in. i. 68 A restraint, 1 hoUgh
all the woilds vastiuiiie you had To a determin'd scope.
[i8ia W. Tennant Anster F. 11. xvii, Their heads with
curl'd vastidity of wig.]
Va'Stily, adv. [f. Vasty «.] In a vast manner.
1844 Mrs. Browning Drama of Exile 972 A few Distinguishable
phantasms vague and grand Which sweep out
and around us vastily.
Vastitude (va-stiti«d), [ad, L. vastUudo^ f.
vastus Vast a.'\
fl. Devastation; laying waste, Ohs.~^
1545 JoYE Exp. Dan. \x. 162 And afiir the balaill their
shalbe an vtter perpetuall vastitude and destruccion of them.
2. The quality of being vast ; immensity.
i6»3 CocKERAM I,' yastitude, greatness, exceeding largenesse.
1790 H. Boyd Rttins Athens in Poet. Reg, (1806-7)
75 The woodland orator,. .Mute and benumb'd, a theatre
surveys Whose vastitude appalls him. 1825 T. HoOK Sayini>s
Ser. ii. Passion