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Glite Dictionary
topgallant yard

topgallant yard

9.9
A long horizontal pole high on a sailing ship that holds the sail above the topsail
  • noun
  • Specialized
translation icon : balancín de gavia
  • The crew worked quickly to secure the topgallant yard before the storm hit.

Examples

  • The topgallant yard is critical.

  • From the deck, he could see a sailor perched on the topgallant yard adjusting the lines.

  • During the refit, the topgallant yard was replaced with a stronger one.

  • Wow! Look at the topgallant yard!

  • The sailor climbed the rigging to adjust the sail attached to the topgallant yard.

  • High above the deck, the topgallant yard supported the beautiful white sails billowing in the wind.

  • During the storm, the crew worked together to secure the sails on the topgallant yard.

Synonyms

top-gallant yard
vstopgallant yard
  • Specialized
9.9

A long horizontal pole high on a sailing ship that holds the topgallant sail

is the same meaning but written without a hyphen

Surface Forms

topgallant yard singular
topgallant yards plural

Morphology

topgallant + yard

The compound is directly compositional: 'topgallant' names the sail/section above the topsail and 'yard' is the spar, so 'topgallant yard' straightforwardly denotes the yard from which the topgallant sail is set. This follows regular English noun+noun compounding, so a learner who already knows the constituent meanings can predict the MWE meaning, even though the vocabulary is specialised.

Etymology

Topgallant yard comes from old sailing ships. It names the horizontal pole, the yard, set high on the mast to hold the topgallant sail above the topsail, so the name means 'the high yard'.