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To draw up or gather into close compass; to wrap or roll, as a sail, close to the yard, stay, or mast, or, as a flag, close to or around its staff, securing it there by a gasket or line. Totten.

A measure of length; the eighth part of a mile; forty rods; two hundred and twenty yards.

To furnish with a furlough; to grant leave of absence to, as to an offcer or soldier.

To loose from a furled state; to unfold; to expand; to open or spread; as, to unfurl sails; to unfurl a flag.

With the sails furled, and the helm lashed alee; -- applied to ships in a storm. See Hull, n.

leys, and used to haul in or up the leeches, bottoms, or corners of sails, preparatory to furling.

The middle part, cavity, or belly of a sail; the part of a furled sail which is at the center of the yard. Totten.

A military pass for a soldier on furlough.

auling on the clew lines. -- To clew up (Naut.), to draw (a sail) up to the yard, as for furling.

ck, to prevent water from getting below. -- Sail coat (Naut.), a canvas cover laced over furled sails, and the like, to keep them dry and clean.

Same as Furl. [Obs.] Beau. & Fl.

The rope rigged below a yard, upon which men stand when reefing or furling; -- formerly called a horse.

To move heavily and slowly, as a ship after the sails are furled; to work one's way, as one ship in outsailing another; -- used especially in the phrase to forge ahead. Totten. And off she [a ship] forged without a shock. De Quincey.

A line or band used to lash a furled sail securely. Sea gaskets are common lines; harbor gaskets are plaited and decorated lines or bands. Called also casket.

or lower corners of a course or a topsail when the middle part or the rest of the sail is furled.

To furl; -- said of a sail. Totten. To hand down, to transmit in succession, as from father to son, or from predecessor to successor; as, fables are handed down from age to age; to forward to the proper officer (the decision of a higher court); as, the Clerk of the Court of Appeals handed down its decision. -- To hand…

n stays (Naut.), to put a vessel on the other tack. -- To heave out a sail (Naut.), to unfurl it. -- To heave taut (Naut.), to turn a capstan, etc., till the rope becomes strained. See Taut, and Tight. -- To heave the lead (Naut.), to take soundings with lead and line. -- To heave the log. (Naut.) See Log. -- To h…

the form of a long parallelogram. Nineveh . . . was of a longilateral figure, ninety-five furlongs broad, and a hundred and fifty long. Sir T. Browne.

ion. See Quotation under Natural, a., 3. -- Natural vowel, the vowel sound heard in urn, furl, sir, her, etc.; -- so called as being uttered in the easiest open position of the mouth organs. See Neutral vowel, under Neutral and Guide to Pronunciation, § 17.

To take a turn with (a line, gasket, etc.), as around a sail in furling, and make secure.