outrigger

[out-rig-er]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR outrigger ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a framework extended outboard from the side of a boat, especially, as in South Pacific canoes, supporting a float that gives stability.

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

the shell itself.

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

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.

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

a projecting beam, as for supporting a hoisting tackle.

a horizontal steel beam extending the base of a crane.

Origin of outrigger

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

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for outrigger

kayak, outrigger, dugout, coracle, pirogue, piragua

Examples from the Web for outrigger

Historical Examples of outrigger

About seventy outrigger boats of all sizes lie on the beach.
Two Years with the Natives in the Western Pacific
Felix Speiser
Single canoes are not so easily separated from their outrigger.
Man on the Ocean
R.M. Ballantyne
The larger sort do not require what we may call the outrigger rowlocks.
Man on the Ocean
R.M. Ballantyne
Of the two canoes, one is smaller than the other, and the smaller serves by way of an outrigger.
Man on the Ocean
R.M. Ballantyne
It has an outrigger; and outrigger, mast, and yard are of bamboo.
Man on the Ocean
R.M. Ballantyne

British Dictionary definitions for outrigger

outrigger

noun

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

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

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

rowing another name for rigger (def. 2)

Word Origin for outrigger

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

Word Origin and History for outrigger

device used in Pacific and Indian oceans to stabilize canoes, 1748, altered (by influence of rig) from outligger (late 15c.) "a spar projecting from a vessel," probably from the same root as Dutch uitlegger, literally "out-lyer."