Oast

Oast (0. Eng. fist, cf. Dutch eest," kiln"; the Teutonic root is aidh- " to burn"; the pre-Teutonic idh- is seen in Lat. aestus, " heat," aestas, " summer," Gr. arOos, "burning heat"), a kiln, particularly one used for drying hops; the word usually appears in the term "oast-house," a building containing several of such kilns (see Ho p). "Oast" is also sometimes used of a kiln for drying tobacco.