outrigger

[ out-rig-er ]
See synonyms for outrigger on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a framework extended outboard from the side of a boat, especially, as in South Pacific canoes, supporting a float that gives stability.

  2. a bracket extending outward from the side of a racing shell, to support an oarlock.

  1. the shell itself.

  2. a spar rigged out from a ship's rail or the like, as for extending a sail.

  3. a long, flexible rod, attached to a fishing boat near the stern, along which a fishing line may be threaded to keep it clear of the boat's wake when trolling.

  4. a structure extending outward from a vehicle, vessel, or aircraft to increase stability or provide support for something.

  5. a projecting beam, as for supporting a hoisting tackle.

  6. a horizontal steel beam extending the base of a crane.

Origin of outrigger

1
First recorded in 1740–50; out- + rig + -er1

Words Nearby outrigger

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use outrigger in a sentence

  • The frame incorporates plastic wings that extend beyond the sides of the lens like outriggers to help distribute pressure from the strap, thus creating a uniform fit.

  • Only one boat was moving, a long canoe with an outrigger; and from this something white was slowly waving.

    Cursed | George Allan England
  • For a moment the canoe rocked in spite of its steadying outrigger, with the violence of the activities aboard it.

    Cursed | George Allan England
  • The outrigger acts as a weight on the windward side, to prevent the narrow canoe from being blown over on the opposite side.

    The Evolution of Culture | Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
  • This I consider to be a more natural sequence than to suppose the outrigger invented as a means of steadying the dug-out canoe.

    The Evolution of Culture | Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers
  • Wilkes says that whenever the outrigger gets to the leeward side, there is almost invariably an upset.

    The Evolution of Culture | Augustus Henry Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers

British Dictionary definitions for outrigger

outrigger

/ (ˈaʊtˌrɪɡə) /


noun
  1. a framework for supporting a pontoon outside and parallel to the hull of a boat to provide stability

  2. a boat equipped with such a framework, esp one of the canoes of the South Pacific

  1. any projecting framework attached to a boat, aircraft, building, etc, to act as a support

  2. rowing another name for rigger (def. 2)

Origin of outrigger

1
C18: from out- + rig 1 + -er 1; perhaps influenced by archaic outligger outlier

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