rigging
Americannoun
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the ropes, chains, etc., employed to support and work the masts, yards, sails, etc., on a ship.
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lifting or hauling tackle.
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Informal. clothing.
noun
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the shrouds, stays, halyards, etc, of a vessel
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the bracing wires, struts, and lines of a biplane, balloon, etc
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any form of lifting gear, tackle, etc
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of rigging
Explanation
Everything on a sailboat or ship that holds the sails up is its rigging. The rigging typically includes masts and ropes. Sometimes the term rigging is used for just about everything on a sailing vessel, including the sails themselves. You can also use this noun for the process of adjusting or setting up these parts, either on a ship or an airship, parachute, or hang-glider. Rigging comes from the verb rig, which was originally nautical and meant just "to fit with sails."
Vocabulary lists containing rigging
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Prediction markets have spurred repeated allegations of skulduggery in recent months, ranging from insider trading by politicians to suspected rigging of bets on the Ukraine war.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Other high-profile figures who had previously been indicted on separate cases of stock rigging include Samsung chairman Lee Jae-yong, Kakao founder Kim Beom-su, and former first lady Kim Keon-hee.
From BBC ● Apr. 21, 2026
Fairley’s lawyer has declined to comment on the college-basketball rigging accusations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 27, 2026
Franglen's creations included a long-necked lute, similar to a Turkish saz, with strings that represent the rigging of the Wind Traders' ship.
From BBC ● Dec. 12, 2025
Tilted slightly to the starboard, it had hanging from its intact masts the dirty rags of its sails in the midst of its rigging, which was adorned with orchids.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Instead, firefighters responded to the scene with ropes and riggings and rappelled down to the man’s location.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 15, 2022
After boarding their ships, the players unfurled sails, turned rudders, and climbed riggings to move between a series of tropical islands, climbing ashore to explore the new locations.
From The Verge ● Jun. 13, 2016
They accurately rendered the steeples of churches where foreigners worshiped amid pagodas, as well as international flags flying over colonnaded wharf buildings and ship riggings.
From New York Times ● Jan. 14, 2016
The pulleys and riggings of the mine at night, after the first snow.
From The New Yorker ● Aug. 12, 2015
There were majestic sailing ships with detailed riggings and portholes, squat tugboats, a pirate ship steered by a mean-looking crew.
From "Caterpillar Summer" by Gillian McDunn
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
