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To shift, or swing round, as a sail, boom, yard, etc., as in tacking.

A light tackle, consisting of a double and single block and the fall, used for various purposes, as to increase the purchase on a topsail sheet in hauling it home; the watch tackle. Totten.

ton packing in place; (c) A follower. -- Junk shop, a shop where old cordage, and ship's tackle, old iron, old bottles, old paper, etc., are kept for sale. -- Junk vat (Leather Manuf.), a large vat into which spent tan liquor or ooze is pumped. -- Junk wad (Mil.), a wad used in proving cannon; also used in firing ho…

A small American bird (Tyrannus, or T. Carolinensis), noted for its courage in attacking larger birds, even hawks and eagles, especially when they approach its nest in the breeding season. It is a typical tyrant flycatcher, taking various insects upon the wing. It is dark ash above, and blackish on the bead and tail. T…

ourth of its length from the lower end, to a low mast, this end being brought down at the tack, while the other end is elevated at an angle or about forty-five degrees; -- used in small boats, feluccas, xebecs, etc., especially in the Mediterranean and adjacent waters. Some lateen sails have also a boom on the lower si…

To beat against the wind; to tack. [Obs.] Dryden.

To attack or harass. [Obs.] Knolles. (d) (Naut.) To check the motion of (a vessel) and cause it to be stationary. -- To lay to heart, to feel deeply; to consider earnestly. -- To lay under, to subject to; as, to lay under obligation or restraint. -- To lay unto. (a) Same as To lay to (above). (b) To put before. Hos.…

foremost or chief among; as, the big sloop led the fleet of yachts; the Guards led the attack; Demosthenes leads the orators of all ages. As Hesperus, that leads the sun his way. Fairfax. And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest. Leigh Hunt.

eans of a vacuum. Horse leech, a less powerful European leech (Hæmopis vorax), commonly attacking the membrane that lines the inside of the mouth and nostrils of animals that drink at pools where it lives.

The course and distance made by a vessel on one tack or between tacks.

lands or tenements. Blackstone. -- To levy war, to make or begin war; to take arms for attack; to attack.

or rank; as, a line of houses, or of soldiers; a line of barriers. Unite thy forces and attack their lines. Dryden.

ather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails. Luff tackle, a purchase composed of a double and single block and fall, used for various purposes. Totten. -- Luff upon luff, a luff tackle attached to the fall of another luff tackle. R. H. Dana, Jr.

oor of a gallery or the roof of a portal, shooting or dropping missiles upen assailants attacking the base of the walls. Also, the construction of such defenses, in general, when of this character. See Illusts. of Battlement and Castle.

eased with me. Latimer. -- To make at, to go toward hastily, or in a hostile manner; to attack. -- To make away with. (a) To carry off. (b) To transfer or alienate; hence, to spend; to dissipate. (c) To kill; to destroy. -- To make off, to go away suddenly. -- To make out, to succeed; to be able at last; to make shi…

etrating to the salivary glands of the mosquito, may be introduced into a new host. The attacks of the disease coincide with the dissolution of the corpuscles and liberation of the spores and products of growth of the parasites into the blood plasma. Several species of the parasite are distinguished, as P. vivax, produ…

ry or naval tactics; to make changes in position with reference to getting advantage in attack or defense.

wood, or metal, which is sometimes used for the protection of sappers or riflemen while attacking a fortress, or of gunners at embrasures; -- now commonly written mantlet.

. . . is a most valuable balsam for wounds, having a peculiar smell which prevents the attacks of flies. Sir S. Baker.

To crowd about, as a mob, and attack or annoy; as, to mob a house or a person.