skysail
Americannoun
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(in a square-rigged vessel) a light square sail next above the royal.
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a triangular sail set on a stay between the fore and main trucks of a racing schooner.
noun
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a square sail set above the royal on a square-rigger
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a triangular sail set between the trucks of a racing schooner
Etymology
Origin of skysail
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.
But seldom had he dared dream of touching this uppermost skysail of influence.
From Time Magazine Archive
But I have heard that some ships carry still smaller sails, above the skysail; called moon-sails, and skyscrapers, and cloud-rakers.
From Redburn. His First Voyage by Melville, Herman
But I shall not believe in them till I see them; a skysail seems high enough in all conscience; and the idea of any thing higher than that, seems preposterous.
From Redburn. His First Voyage by Melville, Herman
He was as steady as a bollard, And gallant as a skysail yard.
From Reynard the Fox by Masefield, John
I set and took in every sail, from a skysail to a trysail.
From Frank Mildmay Or, the Naval Officer by Marryat, Frederick
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.
