spanker

American  

[spang-ker] / ˈspæŋ kər /

noun

1. Nautical.

   1. a fore-and-aft sail on the aftermost lower mast of a sailing vessel having three or more masts.

   2. a designation given to the mast abaft a mizzenmast, usually the aftermost mast in any vessel.

2. Informal. a smartly moving person or animal, especially a fast horse.

3. Chiefly New England. something remarkably fine.

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adjective

Nautical.

1. of or relating to a spanker mast or its rigging.

spanker British  

/ ˈspæŋkə /

noun

1. nautical a fore-and-aft sail or a mast that is aftermost in a sailing vessel

2. informal a person or animal that moves at a quick smart pace

3. informal something outstandingly fine or large

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Etymology

Origin of spanker

First recorded in 1745–55; akin to spanking

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spanker

“Let’s set the spanker, I just want to see what happens!” calls the skipper, excited like a Christmas-morning child.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2016

And, yes, a spanker of behinds when the owners of said behinds got too outrageously out of line.

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 19, 2014

They’ve got the idea they’re h’isting the mains’l, but it ain’t nothing but the spanker.

From Captain Pott's Minister by Francis L. (Francis Le Roy) Cooper

"Let go the jib and spanker," he now shouted, in an energetic tone.

From Captain Kyd, Vol. II or, The Wizard of the Sea by Jonathon Holt Ingraham

Scandalise, skan′da-līz, v.t. to trice up the tack of the spanker in a square-rigged vessel, or the mainsail in a fore-and-aft rigged one.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 4 of 4: S-Z and supplements) by Various

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