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Glite Dictionary
mainsheet

mainsheet

8.6
A rope used to pull the main sail and change its angle to the wind
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : driza
  • He adjusted the mainsheet to catch the wind better as they raced across the water.

Examples

  • Get that mainsheet pulled in!

    Tai-Pan (1986)

  • When the wind gets behind you, hold the mainsheet loose. " " O.K., sure, " Harry says, having not quite listened, thinking instead, resentfully, of Ed Silberstein's bogey on the first hole yesterday and how its being enough for a win got the whole round off to a lousy start.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • The sailor pulled the mainsheet tight to angle the sail for maximum speed.

  • When sailing upwind, you need to control the mainsheet carefully to prevent the sail from flapping.

Synonyms

sheet
vsmainsheet
  • Jargon
8 8.0

A rope used on a boat to control a sail's angle to the wind

is specific to controlling the mainsail angle rather than any sail
weather sheet
vsmainsheet
  • Jargon
1 9.9

A rope or chain used to control the angle of a sail to the wind

focuses on controlling the mainsail angle rather than general sail control

Surface Forms

mainsheet singular
mainsheets plural

Morphology

mainsheet = main + sheet (semi-transparent) = main + sheet

The parts are literal (main + sheet), but 'sheet' has a specialized nautical sense (rope controlling a sail) that may not be known to general learners.

Etymology

Mainsheet is a compound of main meaning 'the main or largest sail' and sheet meaning 'a rope used to control a sail', so the mainsheet is the main rope that controls the mainsail.