spritsail

[sprit-seyl; Nautical sprit-suh l]

noun Nautical.

a sail extended by a sprit.

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

Historical Examples of spritsail

When day broke they succeeded in wearing the ship with a remnant of the spritsail.
The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson
Robert Southey
Our only squaresail was a spritsail at the main-yard to serve as a mainsail.
Hurricane Hurry
W.H.G. Kingston
When the wind is aft, and not too strong, the Indian makes a spritsail of his blanket.
The Maine Woods
Henry David Thoreau
Immediately they loosed their spritsail, and wore her before the wind.
Life Aboard a British Privateer in the Time of Queen Anne
Robert C. Leslie
A spritsail (Fig. 449) or some other simple form can be used if desired.
Woodworking for Beginners
Charles Gardner Wheeler

British Dictionary definitions for spritsail

spritsail

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