topsail
4
9.9
- noun
- /ˈtɑːpseɪl/
- Specialized
:
vela superior
- Set the topsails!
- loose topsail
- reef the topsail
- set the topsails
Examples
-
Set topsails and clear up this mess.
-
Stand by to try the topsails.
-
Take in the topsail!
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The captain ordered the crew to reef the topsail because of the high winds.
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Sailors clung to their posts, with two brave souls aloft in the rigging trying to secure a loose topsail.
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Set the topsail to catch the morning breeze as the ship sailed out of the harbor.
Synonyms
A sail above the mainsail on the main mast of a ship
A sail set on the front mast of a ship to catch wind
A triangular sail fixed to a horizontal pole near the top of a mast to catch wind
A triangular sail set above the gaff with its bottom on the gaff and its front edge along the topmast
Compounds
- Specialized
A triangular sail fixed to a horizontal pole near the top of a mast to catch wind
- Specialized
A triangular sail set above the gaff with its bottom on the gaff and its front edge along the topmast
Surface Forms
Morphology
Etymology
Topsail comes from the two parts top and sail, where top means 'highest' and sail means 'cloth that catches the wind'. So a topsail is the sail set above the lower sail on a mast to catch wind higher up.