Word.ws English Dictionary

masthead

masthead noun: the top of a mast.

Noun

masthead (plural mastheads)

  1. The top of a mast.
    • In most American whalemen the mast-heads are manned almost simultaneously with the vessel’s leaving her port; even though she may have fifteen thousand miles, and more, to sail ere reaching her proper cruising ground.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 35”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC
  2. (US) The list of a newspaper's or another periodical's main staff, contributing writers, publisher, circulation, advertising rates etc.
    Synonyms:
    imprint
  3. (Australia, New Zealand, UK) The title (normally in a large and distinctive font, and at the top of the front page) of a newspaper or another periodical.
    • Maree said she felt worse after articles were written about the video, including by this masthead.2022 July 14, Stephen Johnson, “Aussie woman given flowers in viral stunt blasts TikTok star”, in Mail Online
    Synonyms:
    nameplate
    1. (Australia, New Zealand, UK, broadly) The publication itself, or the rights to publish it.
  4. (broadly) The logo of a broadcaster used in an ident.

Verb

masthead (third-person singular simple present mastheads, present participle mastheading, simple past and past participle mastheaded)

  1. (transitive) To send to the masthead as a punishment.
    • “I was mast-headed, sir.”
      “Mast-headed! how - for what?”1838, Frederick Marryat, Rattlin the Reefer
    • When the ship happened to be in a warm climate, mastheading constituted a fairly mild punishment; indeed, many regarded it as rather a relief from duty. But in inclement weather the experience was most unpleasant.2009, Gregory Fremont-Barnes, Nelson's Officers and Midshipmen, page 30
  2. (transitive) To furnish (a newspaper) with a masthead.
    • It was mastheaded as "Palatka's Only Independent Home-Owned Newspaper."1991, John Costello, Ten Days to Destiny, page 542

Examples of masthead in a sentence

  • The few flags that could be seen above various turrets hung limply from their mastheads.
  • What do you say, Roger, shall we take this along and let it flutter from our masthead?"
  • The masthead or the heading of a newsletter with a picture of the Member is intended to be approved.

All 10 example sentences with masthead

Synonyms of masthead

Forms of masthead

Noun
pluralmastheads
Verb
third-person singular presentmastheads
present participlemastheading
past participlemastheaded
pastmastheaded

Origin of masthead

From mast + head.

Words formed from masthead

Phrases with masthead

Questions about masthead

What does masthead mean?
Masthead means the top of a mast.
What part of speech is masthead?
Masthead can be a noun or a verb.
What is the plural of masthead?
The plural of masthead is mastheads.

Words near masthead in the dictionary

  1. masterworks
  2. masterwort
  3. masterworts
  4. mastery
  5. mastery learning
  6. masthead
  7. masthead sloop
  8. masthead sloops
  9. mastheaded
  10. mastheading
  11. mastheads

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: masthead (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-masthead.oga.

Cite this entry: “masthead.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/masthead. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.