main-topsail

[ meyn-top-seyl; Nautical meyn-top-suhl ]

/ ˌmeɪnˈtɒpˌseɪl; Nautical ˌmeɪnˈtɒp səl /

Save This Word!

noun Nautical.

a topsail set on the mainmast.

QUIZ

QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!

In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”

Question 1 of 7

The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.

affect

effect

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Meet Grammar Coach

Write or paste your essay, email, or story into Grammar Coach and get grammar help

Improve Your Writing

Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing

Origin of main-topsail

First recorded in 1610–20

How to use main-topsail in a sentence

The Guerriere backed her maintopsail and waited for the American to commence the action.
The Cruise of the "Lively Bee"|John De Morgan
Then he walked forward to the break of the poop, and blinked very hard at nothing in particular in the belly of the maintopsail.
Brothers of Peril|Theodore Goodridge Roberts
Needham took good aim: the shot, passing through the maintopsail, struck the foretopmast, which fell over the side.
The Three Lieutenants|W.H.G. Kingston
Up with the helm, lower the peak, ease away the main-sheet, square away the maintopsail!
Ben Hadden|W.H.G. Kingston

The foremast had a square foresail, the mainmast a mainsail and maintopsail, and there was a spritsail on the bowsprit.
Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia|Various

British Dictionary definitions for main-topsail

maintopsail

/ (ˌmeɪnˈtɒpseɪl, nautical ˌmeɪnˈtɒpsəl) /

noun

nautical a topsail set on the mainmast

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