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running rigging

American  

noun

Nautical.
  1. rigging for handling sails, yards, etc. (standing rigging ).

  2. rigging for handling cargo.


running rigging British  

noun

  1. nautical the wires and ropes used to control the operations of a sailing vessel Compare standing rigging

"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

Etymology

Origin of running rigging

First recorded in 1660–70

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.

Then the squall struck whining from the west, with gale force, breaking both forestays, and the mast came toppling aft along the ship’s length, so the running rigging showered into the bilge.

From Literature

Some objection has been made to parts of the tackling, or running rigging, which, it is supposed, will be altered, when they shall be found to be incommodious, as the Ship is able to make very good headway with them as they are.

From Project Gutenberg

Her bowsprit, gaff, and spars are all gone, with every stitch of canvas and all the running rigging.

From Project Gutenberg

She had been provided with a complete suit of new canvas, all her woodwork had been scraped and varnished, the running rigging was new, and the standing rigging had also been renewed wherever it showed signs of wear.

From Project Gutenberg

Monk′ey-bag, a small money-bag, hung round the sailor's neck; Monk′ey-block, a small swivel-block used in guiding running rigging; Monk′ey-board, the omnibus conductor's foot-board; Monk′ey-boat, a narrow, half-decked river-boat; Monk′ey-bread, the baobab-tree or its fruit; Monk′ey-en′gine, a kind of pile-driver having a ram or monkey working in a wooden frame; Monk′ey-flow′er, a flower of the mimulus kind; Monk′ey-gaff, a small gaff above the spanker-gaff for the flag; Monk′ey-grass, a coarse fibre yielded by the leaf-stalks of Attalea funifera, used for brooms, street sweeping-machine brushes, &c.;

From Project Gutenberg