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| reef [ reef ] |
noun (plural reefs) |
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| Definition: |
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part of sail: a section of a sail that can be gathered in and tied down to reduce the sail's surface
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transitive verb (past and past participle reefed, present participle reef·ing, 3rd person present singular reefs) |
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| Definition: |
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1. make sail smaller by gathering: to reduce the area of a sail by gathering part of it in
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2. shorten rigging piece: to shorten or bring in one of the pieces that support the rigging on a ship
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| [14th century. Via Dutch reef< Old Norse rif "reef (of a sail)"] |
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