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clew up

British

verb

(adverb) nautical to furl (a square sail) by gathering its clews up to the yard by means of clew lines

"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

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.

Immediately afterward, with her crew standing by to clew up the foretopsails, the backstays part and the We're Here's mainmast goes overside, carrying with it Manuel in a tangle of canvas, cable and running gear.

From Time Magazine Archive

We hadn't strength to clew up, so her sails were blown away, and she went flying before the mad tempest under bare poles.

From Voyage of the Liberdade by Slocum, Joshua

Not a moment was to be lost, so I gave orders to clew up all our canvas and to let go the best bow anchor.

From Hurricane Hurry by Kingston, William Henry Giles

Every man and boy was at his station, ready to clew up and haul down directly the ship should be free, and again exposed to the fury of the gale.

From Archibald Hughson An Arctic Story by Kingston, William Henry Giles

We must clew up the topsails, while the men can get upon the yards.

From The Phantom Ship by Marryat, Frederick

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023