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

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

So he had the ship made snug under close-reefed main-topsail, a storm jib, and a rag of spanker.

From Harper's Round Table, June 18, 1895 by Various

Let us shake out the spanker and lie-to under that for the night.

From A Desperate Voyage by Knight, Edward Frederick

Dinner was served on 393 deck, the officers messing aft under the slack of the spanker, the men fraternising forward.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 13 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis