spritsail

[ sprit-seyl; Nautical sprit-suh l ]

/ ˈsprɪtˌseɪl; Nautical ˈsprɪt səl /

noun Nautical.

a sail extended by a sprit.

Nearby words

Origin of spritsail

1425–75; late Middle English sprete seyle (see sprit, sail); compare Dutch sprietzeil

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for spritsail

Forward the ships had bowsprits, on which each set a spritsail, from a spritsail yard.
On the Spanish Main|John Masefield
Our only squaresail was a spritsail at the main-yard to serve as a mainsail.
Hurricane Hurry|W.H.G. Kingston
The spritsail flapped emptily and the boat righted to an even keel, causing the two men swiftly to change position.
The Sea-Wolf|Jack London
The foremast had a square foresail, the mainmast a mainsail and maintopsail, and there was a spritsail on the bowsprit.
Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia|Various

When day broke, they succeeded in wearing the ship with a remnant of the spritsail: this was hardly to have been expected.
Fifty-two Stories of the British Navy, from Damme to Trafalgar.|Alfred H. Miles

British Dictionary definitions for spritsail

spritsail

/ (ˈsprɪtˌseɪl, nautical ˈsprɪtsəl) /

noun nautical

a rectangular sail mounted on a sprit in some 19th-century small vessels

(in medieval rigging) a square sail mounted on a yard on the bowsprit

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