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mainsheet

[meyn-sheet]
noun Nautical.
  1. a sheet of a mainsail.
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Origin of mainsheet

First recorded in 1475–85; see origin at main1, sheet1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mainsheet

Historical Examples

  • Come, Walter, haul in the mainsheet, and come up to the wind.

    Captain Mugford

    W.H.G. Kingston

  • Priscilla took the mainsheet in her hand and ordered Frank to luff a little.

    Priscilla's Spies

    George A. Birmingham

  • Bobtail eased off his mainsheet, and waited for the Eagle to come up.

    Little Bobtail

    Oliver Optic

  • If she steers hard trim your mainsheet aft and it will ease her.

    On Yacht Sailing

    Thomas Fleming Day

  • Kitchell dozed in his hammock in the shadow of the mainsheet.

British Dictionary definitions for mainsheet

mainsheet

noun
  1. nautical the line used to control the angle of the mainsail to the wind
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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