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Glite Dictionary
centerboard

centerboard

1 7.4
A flat board lowered into the water under a sailboat to stop it drifting sideways
  • noun
  • /ˈsɛntərˌbɔrd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : quilla retráctil
  • To improve stability while sailing, make sure to lower the centerboard before heading out on the water.

Examples

  • The Sunfish bobs in the breaking waves of shallow water, and Judy pulls up the centerboard and jumps off into water up to her shiny hips and pulls the boat like a barge through the last yards before the bow scrapes sand.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • If they tip over, you just stand on the centerboard and up they come.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • She climbed onto the centerboard.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "Centerboard down," he commands, a captain at last, at the mere age of fifty-five.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Drop the centerboard, son!

    Mr. Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962)

  • Judy is stationed on this side of the mast, poised to push the centerboard down its slot.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • When sailing close to the shore, you should always lower the centerboard for better control.

  • Adjusting the centerboard can help prevent the sailboat from drifting sideways in windy conditions.

Synonyms

drop keel
vscenterboard
  • Specialized
8.3

A fin under a sailboat that you raise or lower to stop the boat sliding sideways

is lowered along the midline to block sideways drift rather than fitted at the bottom
sliding keel
vscenterboard
  • Specialized
8.1

A fin under a sailboat that moves up and down to reduce sideways drift

is lowered along the midline mainly to prevent sideways drift not to improve stability

How Stable

fin keel
  • Specialized
7.9
sliding keel
  • Specialized
8.1
centerboard
  • Specialized
1 7.4
skeg
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Surface Forms

centerboard singular
centerboards plural
centreboards plural
centreboard singular

Morphology

centerboard = center + board (transparent) = center + board

A literal compound: a board located at the centreline of a boat used to prevent sideways drift, which learners can derive from 'center' + 'board'.

Etymology

Centerboard is easy to picture: it joins center 'middle' and board 'a flat piece of wood or metal'. So a centerboard is literally a board in the middle of a boat that you lower into the water to stop the boat from drifting or sliding sideways.