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A fleet of armed ships; a squadron. Specifically, the Spanish fleet which was sent to assail England, a. d. 1558.

by at (formerly sometimes by to), also by in and from. "Arrived in Padua." Shak. [Æneas] sailing with a fleet from Sicily, arrived . . . and landed in the country of Laurentum. Holland. There was no outbreak till the regiment arrived at Ipswich. Macaulay.

To assail with murderous intent; hence, by extended meaning, to maltreat exceedingly. [Archaic] Your rhymes assassinate our fame. Dryden. Such usage as your honorable lords Afford me, assassinated and betrayed. Milton.

w of producing moral effects; to attack by words, arguments, or unfriendly measures; to assail; as, to assault a reputation or an administration. Before the gates, the cries of babes newborn, . . . Assault his ears. Dryden.

One who assaults, or violently attacks; an assailant. E. Hall.

Fully rigged, as a vessel; with all sails set; set on end or set right.

Sheeted home, hoisted taut up and ready for trimming; -- said of sails.

To fall upon with force; to assail, as with force and arms; to assault. "Attack their lines." Dryden.

An assailant; also, a temper. [Obs.]

to row backward with the oars. -- To back a rope, to put on a preventer. -- To back the sails, to arrange them so as to cause the ship to move astern. -- To back up, to support; to sustain; as, to back up one's friends. -- To back a warrant (Law), is for a justice of the peace, in the county where the warrant is to…

The lower reef of fore and aft sails; also, the upper reef of topsails. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

To contract, as a sail, into a narrower compass; as, to balance the boom mainsail. Balanced valve. See Balance valve, under Balance, n.

The last reef in a fore-and-aft sail, taken to steady the ship.

A fast-sailing schooner, used in the Bermudas and West Indies.

The Indian fig. See Banyan. Banian days (Naut.), days in which the sailors have no flesh meat served out to them. This use seems to be borrowed from the Banians or Banya race, who eat no flesh.

he genus Histiophorus, of the Swordfish family, having a broad bannerlike dorsal fin; the sailfish. One species (H. Americanus) inhabits the North Atlantic.

are men prevailed upon by bare of naked truth. South. Under bare poles (Naut.), having no sail set.

Formerly, any small sailing vessel, as a pinnace, fishing smack, etc.; also, a rowing boat; a barge. Now applied poetically to a sailing vessel or boat of any kind. Byron.

To assail in battle; to fight.

To make progress against the wind, by sailing in a zigzag line or traverse.