(naval) A non-judicial punishment ("NJP"); a disciplinary hearing under which a commanding officer studies and disposes of cases involving those under his command.[from 17th c.]
The fruit of forest-trees (beech,oak,chestnut,pecan, etc.), especially if having fallen from the tree, used asfodder for pigs and other animals.[from 10th c.]
She ſhut them ſtraight in ſties; and gaue them meate / Oke-maſt, and beech, and Cornell fruite, they eate,[…]
1697,Virgil, “The Second Book of theGeorgics”, inJohn Dryden, transl.,The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis.[…], London:[…]Jacob Tonson,[…],→OCLC,page93, lines755–756:
The Winter comes, and then the fallingMaſt, / For greedy Swine, provides a full repaſt.
1715,Robert South, “A Sermon onProverbs i. 32.”, inTwelve Sermons Preached at Several Times, and upon Several Occasions, volume IV, London:[…] G. James, for Jonah Bowyer[…],→OCLC,pages73–74:
[T]hey feed and grovel like Swine under an Oak, filling themſelves with theMaſt, but never ſo much as looking up, either to the Bows that bore, or the Hands that ſhook it down.
Any individual tree whichmasted in a generally non-mast year would be subjected to the exclusive attention of the seed predators and so would be selected against.
2004, Michael Scherer-Lorenzen, Christian Körner, Ernst-Detlef Schulze,Forest Diversity and Function: Temperate and Boreal Systems[2], page28:
However, if this were true, all or mostmasting species (e.g.,Fagus andQuercus) in a forest would have tomast in synchrony to be effective against generalist herbivores.
2008, Chris Rowthorn, Muhammad Cohen, China Williams,Borneo[3], page50:
Because dipterocarp seeds are winged and spin gracefully as they fall, the dispersal of millions of dipterocarp seeds during amasting event is one of the greatest spectacles that you can see on planet Earth.
Godfrey thus conquered, pretended to lose his temper, curs'd his own ill luck, swore that the table had a cast, and that the balls did not run true, changed hismast, and with great warmth challenged his enemy to double his sum.
D. G. Lewis, N. Lewis, editors (2005–present), “mast”, inGweiadur: the Welsh–English Dictionary, Gwerin
R. J. Thomas, G. A. Bevan, P. J. Donovan, A. Hawke,et al., editors (1950–present), “mast”, inGeiriadur Prifysgol Cymru Online (in Welsh), University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh & Celtic Studies
.jpg)
