lay to

verb(intr, adverb) nautical

to bring a vessel into a haven
another term for heave to

Words Nearby lay to

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

How to use lay to in a sentence

So they lay-to outside the horns of the bay and awaited the dawning.
The Story of the Glittering Plain | William Morris
I had not been out many days when a tremendous gale sprang up which compelled me to lay-to.
Hurricane Hurry | W.H.G. Kingston
Captain Packenham was not a man to run away from either one or the other, so we backed our main-topsail, and lay-to for them.
Hurricane Hurry | W.H.G. Kingston
Close by the islet a schooner yacht lay-to, and a well-manned boat was pulling vigorously for the shore.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 4 (of 25) | Robert Louis Stevenson
The strange vessel backed her topsails and hove-to, while we ranged up and lay-to about a hundred yards off.
The Coral Island | R.M. Ballantyne

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