Showing results for "rigging"

• present participle of rig.

rigging

American  

[rig-ing] / ˈrɪg ɪŋ /

noun

• riggings
  plural

1. the ropes, chains, etc., employed to support and work the masts, yards, sails, etc., on a ship.

2. lifting or hauling tackle.

3. Informal. clothing.

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rigging British  

/ ˈrɪɡɪŋ /

noun

1. the shrouds, stays, halyards, etc, of a vessel

2. the bracing wires, struts, and lines of a biplane, balloon, etc

3. any form of lifting gear, tackle, etc

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• riggings
  plural

Etymology

Origin of rigging

First recorded in 1480–90; rig + -ing ¹

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."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rigging riggings

"It's rigging the game to win rather than playing by the rules," said Koneschusky, the former Senate aide.

From Barron's ● Aug. 26, 2026

With its tar-soaked rigging, creaking oak deck and 50 spruce oars, Draken Harald Harfagre is the largest modern replica of a Viking ship.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

The ship lacks the usual clanging metal rigging of a modern sailboat, so the two-hour, $80 journey was nearly silent.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 15, 2026

Meta, meanwhile, is still going strong but has experienced its own earthquakes: from privacy scandals and election rigging accusations to teen mental health crises and toxic online harms.

From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026

He turned his back on her, and Sefia fell silent as sailors began scrambling into the rigging.

From "The Reader" by Traci Chee

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

Back home, he fed his semi-abstracting campaign with motifs from summer sojourns in Gloucester, Massachusetts: signs, boat riggings, gas pumps.

From The New Yorker ● 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

He got down on one knee with much effort, grunting and puffing, the seams of his pants creaking like ship riggings.

From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner