Showing results for "rigging"

• present participle of rig.

rigging

American  

[rig-ing] / ˈrɪg ɪŋ /

noun

• riggings
  plural

1. the ropes, chains, etc., employed to support and work the masts, yards, sails, etc., on a ship.

2. lifting or hauling tackle.

3. Informal. clothing.

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rigging British  

/ ˈrɪɡɪŋ /

noun

1. the shrouds, stays, halyards, etc, of a vessel

2. the bracing wires, struts, and lines of a biplane, balloon, etc

3. any form of lifting gear, tackle, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• riggings
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of rigging

First recorded in 1480–90; rig + -ing ¹

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Explanation

Everything on a sailboat or ship that holds the sails up is its rigging. The rigging typically includes masts and ropes. Sometimes the term rigging is used for just about everything on a sailing vessel, including the sails themselves. You can also use this noun for the process of adjusting or setting up these parts, either on a ship or an airship, parachute, or hang-glider. Rigging comes from the verb rig, which was originally nautical and meant just "to fit with sails."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rigging riggings

British courts overturned the convictions of six men across two cases for charges related to alleged rigging of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, during the 2008 financial panic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Only one former trader in the world now remains convicted: former Barclays trader Peter Johnson, who was also one of the original whistleblowers in the interest rate rigging scandal.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

At the event at the Ironworkers Training Center in La Palma organized by labor leaders to oppose the wealth tax, apprentices attended workshops about rigging and collective bargaining rights.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026

With its tar-soaked rigging, creaking oak deck and 50 spruce oars, Draken Harald Harfagre is the largest modern replica of a Viking ship.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

She wove a sail big enough for a small yacht and made enough rope for all the rigging.

From "The House of Hades" by Rick Riordan

Instead, firefighters responded to the scene with ropes and riggings and rappelled down to the man’s location.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2022

After boarding their ships, the players unfurled sails, turned rudders, and climbed riggings to move between a series of tropical islands, climbing ashore to explore the new locations.

From The Verge ● Jun. 13, 2016

Back home, he fed his semi-abstracting campaign with motifs from summer sojourns in Gloucester, Massachusetts: signs, boat riggings, gas pumps.

From The New Yorker ● Jun. 13, 2016

They accurately rendered the steeples of churches where foreigners worshiped amid pagodas, as well as international flags flying over colonnaded wharf buildings and ship riggings.

From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2016

There were majestic sailing ships with detailed riggings and portholes, squat tugboats, a pirate ship steered by a mean-looking crew.

From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn

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