backstay

[ bak-stey ]

/ ˈbækˌsteɪ /

noun

Machinery. a supporting or checking piece in a mechanism.

Building Trades. an anchored tension member, as a cable, permanently or temporarily supporting a compression member, as a tower or pole, subject to a pull above its base from the opposite direction.

a strip of leather at the back of a shoe used for reinforcement and sometimes to connect the quarters.

Nearby words

backsplice, backstab, backstabber, backstage, backstairs, backstay, backstitch, backstop, backstory, backstrap loom, backstreet

Origin of backstay

First recorded in 1860–65; back¹ + stay²

Definition for backstay (2 of 2)

backstay

[ bak-stey ]

/ ˈbækˌsteɪ /

noun

Nautical. any of various shrouds forming part of a vessel's standing rigging and leading aft from masts above a lower mast to the sides or stern of the vessel in order to reinforce the masts against forward pull.

Origin of backstay

First recorded in 1620–30; back¹ + stay³

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for backstay

Setting every shroud and backstay singing shanties to the stars?
Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, November 17, 1920|Various
It is kept steady by a backstay on each side of the foretopmast-stay.
Every Boy's Book: A Complete Encyclopdia of Sports and Amusements|Various
But Ulysses lashed the keel to the mast with the backstay, and on these he sat, borne by the winds across the sea.
Stories of the Old world|Alfred John Church
I felt at times willing to quit my feeble hold of a backstay or shroud, and seek repose by diving into the briny billows beneath.
Jack in the Forecastle|John Sherburne Sleeper

He kept his clutch on the backstay with the dizzy notion that this saved him from clutching some one's throat.
The Skipper and the Skipped|Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for backstay

backstay

/ (ˈbækˌsteɪ) /

noun

nautical a stay leading aft from the upper part of a mast to the deck or stern

machinery a supporting piece or arresting part

anything that supports or strengthens the back of something, such as leather covering the back seam of a shoe

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