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.
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
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
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
Skipper Moore close-hauled Argyll for the long reach to Bermuda, with a stiff breeze carrying them along.
From Time Magazine Archive
When at length the wind veered sufficiently to enable the Gannet to sail close-hauled through the surf-encompassed passage, all plain sail was set, and back to Port Royal we sped.
From A Lad of Grit A Story of Adventure on Land and Sea in Restoration Times by Percy F. (Percy Francis) Westerman
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.
