spritsail
Americannoun
noun
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a rectangular sail mounted on a sprit in some 19th-century small vessels
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(in medieval rigging) a square sail mounted on a yard on the bowsprit
Etymology
Origin of spritsail
1425–75; late Middle English sprete seyle ( see sprit, sail); compare Dutch sprietzeil
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.
Whereupon we cast off and hoisted the spritsail.
From Tales of the Fish Patrol by Varian, George
But in summer time the trade was also carried on by open spritsail boats of from eight to ten tons.
From King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 by Chatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble)
I wished to make all the northing that was possible, but there was nothing to be done in that way with the spritsail alone.
From The Frozen Pirate by Russell, W. Clark (William Clark)
In quick succession we jumped off the spritsail yard, the black leading.
From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 4, September, 1850 by Various
The foremast had a square foresail, the mainmast a mainsail and maintopsail, and there was a spritsail on the bowsprit.
From Christopher Columbus and His Monument Columbia being a concordance of choice tributes to the great Genoese, his grand discovery, and his greatness of mind and purpose by Dickey, J. M. (John Marcus)
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.
