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Glite Dictionary
close-hauled

close-hauled

1 9.2
Sailing as close to the wind as possible with sails pulled in tight
  • adjective
  • /kloʊs hɔld/
  • Specialized
translation icon : a toda vela
  • The yacht remained close-hauled for most of the afternoon, barely losing any speed.

Examples

  • With the wind shifting, the captain ordered the boat to sail close-hauled toward the next mark.

  • Sailing close-hauled demands skillful trimming of the sails and constant attention to the wind.

  • The sailboat was close-hauled to maximize speed.

  • When close-hauled, the crew adjusted the sails carefully.

  • The captain expertly adjusted the sails as the boat sailed close-hauled, maximizing speed against the wind.

  • While sailing close-hauled, the crew worked together to keep the boat steady and pointed directly into the wind.

  • To reach the harbor quickly, they navigated the close-hauled course, ensuring the sails were trimmed perfectly.

Synonyms

close to the wind
vsclose-hauled
  • Specialized
1 9.9

Sailing with the boat pointed almost into the wind to go as directly toward it as possible

sets the sails to sail as nearly into the wind as possible

How Downwind

large
  • Specialized
9.9
close-hauled
  • Specialized
1 9.2

Surface Forms

close-hauled positive

Morphology

close-hauled = close + haul (semi-transparent) = close + haul + ed

The components 'close' and 'haul' are semantically clear, but the specific nautical meaning ('sails set as near the wind as possible') is specialized and may not be directly inferable for an average B1 learner.

Etymology

The word close-hauled comes from the common words close and haul, where close means 'near' or 'tight' and haul means 'to pull'. So a boat sailed close-hauled has its sails pulled in tight to go as near to the wind as possible.