mainsail
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of mainsail
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; main 1, sail
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.
On the other boats, the helmsman has to dash around the back of the mainsail to the other side of the boat when it tacks or jibes.
From Seattle Times • Mar. 8, 2021
As the mainsail swung across the boat, the mainsheet system caught Fisher and knocked him off the boat, the team said.
From Washington Times • Mar. 28, 2018
My father’s practice of sailing into the wind to raise or lower the mainsail?
From Washington Post • Sep. 6, 2017
They have built four stationary cycling stations into each hull to tap leg power instead of traditional arm power from the grinders to power the hydraulic systems that control the wing mainsail and the daggerboards.
From New York Times • Jun. 18, 2017
The idea was to reduce the area of the mainsail so it wouldn’t catch so much wind.
From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
