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running rigging

American  

noun

Nautical.

  1. rigging for handling sails, yards, etc. (contrasted with standing rigging).

  2. rigging for handling cargo.

running rigging British  

noun

  1. nautical the wires and ropes used to control the operations of a sailing vessel Compare standing rigging

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of running rigging

First recorded in 1660–70

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Running rigging lay loose on the deck in coils, and nearly the whole of the quarter-deck was occupied by a deck-house.

From The Blue Lagoon: a romance by Stacpoole, H. De Vere (Henry De Vere)

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.