standing rigging

American  

noun

Nautical.

1. rigging remaining permanently in position as a means of steadying various spars, shrouds, stays, etc. (contrasted with running rigging).

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standing rigging British  

noun

1. the stays, shrouds, and other more or less fixed, though adjustable, wires and ropes that support the masts of a sailing vessel Compare running rigging

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Etymology

Origin of standing rigging

First recorded in 1740–50

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

standing rigging

The frames are oak, the planking Oregon pine, the decks canvas-covered spruce, the standing rigging stainless steel.

From Time Magazine Archive

Her yards were canted, her masts sloped forward instead of aft, her standing rigging was loose and weather-rotted.

From The Ice Pilot by Leverage, Henry

The many brass mountings shine with dazzling lustre, and the white paint contrasts with the well-tarred cordage which forms the standing rigging.

From Equatorial America Descriptive of a Visit to St. Thomas, Martinique, Barbadoes, and the Principal Capitals of South America by Ballou, Maturin Murray

Steel forms their boilers, their propeller shafts, their hulls, their masts and spars, their standing rigging, their cable chains and anchors, and also their guns and armour-plating.

From The Romance of Industry and Invention by Cochrane, Robert

Of course, all canvas and running gear had rotted away, but here and there was a leg of standing rigging, preserved by the tar.

From The Grain Ship by Robertson, Morgan