mizen

miz·zen

or miz·en (mĭz′ən)

n. Nautical

1. A fore-and-aft sail set on the mizzenmast.

2. A mizzenmast.

[Middle English mesan, from Old French misaine, Old Spanish mezana or Old Italian mezzana, all ultimately from Latin mediānus, of the middle, from medius, middle; see medhyo- in Indo-European roots.]

miz′zen adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun	1.	mizen - third mast from the bow in a vessel having three or more masts; the after and shorter mast of a yawl, ketch, or dandy mizenmast, mizzen, mizzenmast mast - a vertical spar for supporting sails
	2.	mizen - fore-and-aft sail set on the mizzenmast mizzen fore-and-aft sail - any sail not set on a yard and whose normal position is in a fore-and-aft direction

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References in classic literature ?

But few thoughts of Pan stirred Ahab's brain, as standing like an iron statue at his accustomed place beside the mizen rigging, with one nostril he unthinkingly snuffed the sugary musk from the Bashee isles (in whose sweet woods mild lovers must be walking), and with the other consciously inhaled the salt breath of the new found sea; that sea in which the hated White Whale must even then be swimming.

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Finding it was likely to overblow, we took in our sprit-sail, and stood by to hand the fore-sail; but making foul weather, we looked the guns were all fast, and handed the mizen. The ship lay very broad off, so we thought it better spooning before the sea, than trying or hulling.

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Upon each side of the Pequod's quarter deck, and pretty close to the mizen shrouds, there was an auger hole, bored about half an inch or so, into the plank.

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"We feel as if nothing has changed since then," Barry Mizen, 64, says.

Nothing has changed since our Jimmy died; REAL BRITAIN

Only one five-bedroom detached property and two four-bedroom townhouses remain for sale at Mizen Court, a small development on a quiet cul de sac on the edge of Bamburgh, close to the coast but with open views over the surrounding countryside.

Touch of luxury beside the seaside

KATE McCANN, the mother of missing Madeleine, joined the parents of murdered schoolboy Jimmy Mizen at a peace service yesterday.

McCann support for Mizen parents

IN A sane, safe world, Jimmy Mizen and Rob Knox would be looking forward to a family Christmas.

Football must take the lead and stand against violent crime

TEENAGE thug Jake Fahri was beginning life behind bars today for killing schoolboy Jimmy Mizen.

STOP THIS FURY; Grieving dad's plea as Jimmy's killer gets life

A TEENAGER demonstrated in court today how he threw a glass dish which killed schoolboy Jimmy Mizen.

Teen relives glass attack; ACCUSED SHOWS HOW DISH KILLED VICTIM

Let us hope the Premier also saw fit to send notes to the families of stabbing victims Jimmy Mizen, Rob Knox plus every member of the armed forces who has been killed on his watch...

Write cause

"I just hope this award helps to bring a little bit of happiness at such a sad time." - Terence Mizen dedicating his Royal Humane Society bravery award, for helping to rescue a man from a burning car, to his nephew murdered teenager Jimmy Mizen.

They say

A manhunt was under way to track the killer responsible for cutting "gentle giant" Jimmy Mizen's neck with glass following a row as he went to buy a lottery ticket with his brother.