mainsheet

[ meyn-sheet ]

/ ˈmeɪnˌʃit /

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noun Nautical.

a sheet of a mainsail.

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Origin of mainsheet

First recorded in 1475–85; see origin at main¹, sheet¹

Words nearby mainsheet

main royal mast, mains, mainsail, main sequence, main shaft, mainsheet, mainspring, main squeeze, mainstay, main stem, main store

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use mainsheet in a sentence

If she steers hard trim your mainsheet aft and it will ease her.
On Yacht Sailing|Thomas Fleming Day
Seaport towns are full of mainsheet-men; they hop upon one leg, my son, what's left of them, and the rest are dead.
The Ebb-Tide|Robert Louis Stevenson and Lloyde Osbourne
The Ghost swung around into the wind, and I finished my work forward in time to run aft and lend a hand with the mainsheet.
The Sea-Wolf|Jack London
Louise hastily shifted to the opposite side as a counter-balance, and in so doing, released the mainsheet.
Saboteurs on the River|Mildred A. Wirt

He fancied he cried out in warning, but was never sure of it, though three men came running to seize the mainsheet.
Masters of the Wheat-Lands|Harold Bindloss

British Dictionary definitions for mainsheet

mainsheet

/ (ˈmeɪnˌʃiːt) /

noun

nautical the line used to control the angle of the mainsail to the wind

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