Word.ws English Dictionary

stand fast the Holy Ghost

stand fast the Holy Ghost interjection: a sailor's cry in response to the announcement of up spirits (the handing out of the daily rum ration).

Interjection

  1. (historical, humorous) A sailor's cry in response to the announcement of up spirits (the handing out of the daily rum ration).

Origin of stand fast the Holy Ghost

A punning retort to up spirits, since to stand fast is not to rise up, and spirit may refer to alcohol or to a ghost.

Questions about stand fast the Holy Ghost

What does stand fast the Holy Ghost mean?
Stand fast the Holy Ghost means a sailor's cry in response to the announcement of up spirits (the handing out of the daily rum ration).
What part of speech is stand fast the Holy Ghost?
Stand fast the Holy Ghost is an interjection.

Words near stand fast the Holy Ghost in the dictionary

  1. stand confessed
  2. stand corrected
  3. stand down
  4. stand easy
  5. stand fast
  6. stand fast the Holy Ghost
  7. stand fire
  8. stand firm
  9. stand for
  10. stand from under
  11. stand guard

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: stand fast the Holy Ghost (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.

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