a ridge of rocks or sand, often of coral debris, at or near the surface of the water.
Mining. a lode or vein.
to shorten (sail) by tying in one or more reefs.
to reduce the length of (a topmast, a bowsprit, etc.), as by lowering, sliding inboard, or the like.
to pull (old oakum) out of seams, as with a rave hook (often followed byout ).
another name for the Great Barrier Reef
another name for the Witwatersrand
to reduce the area of (sail) by taking in a reef
(tr) to shorten or bring inboard (a spar)
a ridge of rock, sand, coral, etc, the top of which lies close to the surface of the sea
a ridge- or mound-like structure built by sedentary calcareous organisms (esp corals) and consisting mainly of their remains
a vein of ore, esp one of gold-bearing quartz
A strip or ridge of rocks, sand, or coral that rises to or near the surface of a body of water.
See more at coral reef
1575–85; earlier riff ( e ) < Dutch rif
1350–1400; Middle English refe (noun) < Dutch reef
A reef is a raised area on the ocean floor that's made of rock, coral, or sand. If you are a scuba diver, head to a coral reef to check out the diverse marine life. A barrier reef is one that surrounds an island and creates a lagoon between the reef and the beach. When this type of reef attracts diverse ocean life, it can be popular with snorkelers and scuba divers. When you're sailing, a reef is a section of the sail that you can roll up when necessary — and to reef is to roll up a reef. Both meanings share an Old Norse root, rif, "ridge under the water."
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CARNS, or MID-DAY REEF, was discovered by Mr. Carns, the master of the ship Neptune, on the 21st of June, 1818, having taken a departure the day before from Sandy Cape.
From Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 — Volume 2 by King, Phillip Parker
In the fairway of the entrance to Shark's Bay, between Dorre and Dirk Hartog's Islands, is DAMPIER'S REEF; it is two miles in extent from east to west, and about one mile wide.
From Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 — Volume 2 by King, Phillip Parker
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
