skysail

American  

[skahy-seyl, skahy-suhl] / ˈskaɪˌseɪl, ˈskaɪ səl /

noun

Nautical.

1. (in a square-rigged vessel) a light square sail next above the royal.

2. a triangular sail set on a stay between the fore and main trucks of a racing schooner.

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skysail British  

/ ˈskaɪˌseɪl /

noun

1. a square sail set above the royal on a square-rigger

2. a triangular sail set between the trucks of a racing schooner

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Etymology

Origin of skysail

First recorded in 1820–30; sky + sail

Example Sentences

But seldom had he dared dream of touching this uppermost skysail of influence.

From Time Magazine Archive

We must make a tourniquet of my skysail here.”

From Rattlin the Reefer by Marryat, Frederick

The inside was then painted, from the skysail truck to the waterways,— the yards, black; mast-heads and tops, white; monkey-rail, black, white, and yellow; bulwarks, green; plank-shear, white; waterways, lead-color, &c., &c.

From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry

I set and took in every sail, from a skysail to a trysail.

From Frank Mildmay Or, the Naval Officer by Marryat, Frederick

Toward morning, the wind having become light, we crossed our royal and skysail yards, and at daylight we were seen under a cloud of sail, having royals and skysails fore and aft.

From Two Years Before the Mast by Dana, Richard Henry