jackstay

[ jak-stey ]

noun

, Nautical.

1. a rod or batten, following a yard, gaff, or boom, to which one edge of a sail is bent.
2. a rail for guiding the movement of the hanks of a sail.
3. a transverse stay for stiffening a mast having a gaff sail, coming downward and outward from the head of the mast, passing over a spreader at the level of the gaff, then inclining inward to the mast again near the foot.
4. jack rod.

jackstay

/ ˈdʒækˌsteɪ /

noun

1. a metal rod, wire rope, or wooden batten to which an edge of a sail is fastened along a yard
2. a support for the parrel of a yard

Word History and Origins

Origin of jackstay¹

First recorded in 1830–40; jack ¹ + stay ³

Example Sentences

The report said he had unclipped his belt harness from the wire jackstay, which holds the edge of a sail.

From BBC

Marines, cleaning out the mangrove swamps near Saigon in Operation Jackstay, rooted out a major Viet Cong headquarters.

From Time Magazine Archive

For a moment all hands clung desperately to the jackstay, fending the thrashing sail with bent heads; then some of the bolder spirits made to come off the yard....

From Project Gutenberg

The jackstay was torn from his grasp, and he fell, face downward, into the black void beneath.

From Project Gutenberg

The fellow made his way up the ratlines with extreme deliberation—for, indeed, a journey aloft in such scorching heat was no joke—made up the loose gasket, and was in the very act of swinging himself off the yard when, happening to be watching him, I saw him suddenly pause and stiffen into an attitude of attention as, holding on to the jackstay with one hand, he flung the other up to his forehead and peered ahead under the sharp of it.

From Project Gutenberg