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downhaul

American

[daun-hawl] / ˈdaʊnˌhɔl /

noun

Nautical.

any of various lines for pulling down a sail or a yard, as for securing in a lowered position when not in use.

downhaul British

/ ˈdaʊnˌhɔːl /

noun

nautical a line for hauling down a sail or for increasing the tension at its luff

"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 downhaul

First recorded in 1660–70; down ¹ + haul

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.

See Examples For:

downhaul

When the weather moderated, and we shook the reefs out, the downhaul was forgotten until we happened to think we might soon need it again.

From Man Overboard! by F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford

If it breezed up, and the jibtopsail was to be taken in, they never minded a wetting, and they would be out at the bowsprit end before there was a hand at the downhaul.

From Man Overboard! by F. Marion (Francis Marion) Crawford

I soon had my own fellow perfectly at my mercy, and got him so near the end of the jib downhaul, as to secure him with a turn or two of that rope.

From Afloat and Ashore A Sea Tale by James Fenimore Cooper

Then I needed to think of my own safety and passed a turn of the mizzen gaff-topsail downhaul about me, belaying to a pin as the cataclysm hit us.

From The Grain Ship by Morgan Robertson

Her yard and boom were in his linhay, the sheet and downhaul in Tony's.

From A Poor Man's House by Stephen Sydney Reynolds

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