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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.
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Origin of jackstay

First recorded in 1830–40; jack1 + stay3
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for jackstay

Historical Examples

  • 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

noun nautical
  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
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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