Search the Dictionary

That part of a sail, when furled, which remains on the outside and covers the whole. Totten.

ount upward on wings, or as on wings. Chaucer. When soars Gaul's vulture with his wings unfurled. Byron.

To relieve a sail from the pressure of the wind, so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to lessen the strain. Spilling line (Naut.), a rope used for spilling, or dislodging, the wind from the belly of a sail. Totten.

breadth only; to stretch or expand to a broad or broader surface or extent; to open; to unfurl; as, to spread a carpet; to spread a tent or a sail. He bought a parcel of a field where he had spread his tent. Gen. xxxiii. 19. Here the Rhone Hath spread himself a couch. Byron.

To unfurl. Shak. To stream the buoy. (Naut.) See under Buoy.

to comprise; to comprehend. (c) To draw into a smaller compass; to contract; to brail or furl; as, to take in sail. (d) To cheat; to circumvent; to gull; to deceive. [Colloq.] (e) To admit; to receive; as, a leaky vessel will take in water. (f) To win by conquest. [Obs.] For now Troy's broad-wayed town He shall take i…

l next above the lowermost sail on a mast. This sail is the one most frequently reefed or furled in working the ship. In a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, the sail set upon and above the gaff. See Cutter, Schooner, Sail, and Ship. Topsail schooner. (Naut.) See Schooner, and Illustration in Appendix.