close-hauled
Americanadjective
adjective
Etymology
Origin of close-hauled
First recorded in 1760–70
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.
The wind shifted and suddenly we were close-hauled on a course to the northwest that pointed us approximately toward the Aleutian Islands.
From Time Magazine Archive
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After a night of reckless seamanship, both ships are standing clear, close-hauled on the port tack, all sails set and drawing, with the We're Here to the windward and astern of Jenny Cushman.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Walters did what any sailor might do�he close-hauled to port.
From Time Magazine Archive
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Once he tried his hand at sailing and a Bermuda lady-expert promptly asked: "Do you reef in your gaff-topsails when you are close-hauled or do you let go the mizzentop-bowlines and crossjack-braces?"
From Time Magazine Archive
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A short spell of close-hauled work, as the smack tacked towards the entrance, was followed by a run, full and by, down the buoyed channel to the bar buoy.
From With Beatty off Jutland A Romance of the Great Sea Fight by Westerman, Percy F. (Percy Francis)
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.