main-topsail

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

/ ˌmeɪnˈtɒpˌseɪl; Nautical ˌmeɪnˈtɒp səl /

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noun Nautical.

a topsail set on the mainmast.

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His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of main-topsail

First recorded in 1610–20

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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