jackstay

[ jak-stey ]

nounNautical.

a rod or batten, following a yard, gaff, or boom, to which one edge of a sail is bent.
a rail for guiding the movement of the hanks of a sail.

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.
jack rod.

Origin of jackstay

First recorded in 1830–40; jack¹ + stay³

Words Nearby jackstay

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use jackstay in a sentence

The jackstay was torn from his grasp, and he fell, face downward, into the black void beneath.
"Where Angels Fear to Tread" and Other Stories of the Sea | Morgan Robertson

British Dictionary definitions for jackstay

jackstay

/ (ˈdʒækˌsteɪ) /

nounnautical

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

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

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