before the mast

Adjective

Meaning

(literally) Having living quarters in the forecastle of a vessel

Describing seamen rather than officers
Before making lieutenant, he sailed before the mast for five years

Source: en.wiktionary.org

Synonyms

aboard

Examples

I did not wish to take a cabin passage, but rather to go before the mast and on the deck of the world, for there I could best see the moonlight amid the mountains. I do not wish to go below now. Henry David Thoreau

Close letter words and terms

before the ink is dry on the page before the international court of justice before the lens before the meal before the planned date before the present