Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hoist \Hoist\, n.
   1. That by which anything is hoisted; the apparatus for
      lifting goods.

   2. The act of hoisting; a lift. [Collog.]

   3. (Naut.)
      (a) The perpendicular height of a flag, as opposed to the
          fly, or horizontal length when flying from a staff.
      (b) The height of a fore-and-aft sail next the mast or
          stay. --Totten.

   {Hoist bridge}, a drawbridge that is lifted instead of being
      swung or drawn aside.