| / English Dictionary |
MAINSAIL
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The lowermost sail on the mainmast
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("mainsail" is a kind of...):
canvas; canvass; sail; sheet (a large piece of fabric (usually canvas fabric) by means of which wind is used to propel a sailing vessel)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mainsail"):
main course (a square mainsail)
Context examples:
As quietly as was possible, I clewed up the topsails, lowered the flying jib and staysail, backed the jib over, and flattened the mainsail.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
But Maud and I had a way of voicing each other’s thoughts, and she said, as we prepared to hoist the mainsail: To think, Humphrey, you did it all with your own hands?
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
Three hours more were required to gasket the mainsail and jib, and at two in the morning, nearly dead, the life almost buffeted and worked out of me, I had barely sufficient consciousness to know the experiment was a success.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
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