staysail

[ stey-seyl; Nautical stey-suh l ]

/ ˈsteɪˌseɪl; Nautical ˈsteɪ səl /

noun Nautical.

any sail set on a stay, as a triangular sail between two masts.

Words nearby staysail

staycation, stayer, staying power, stayman, stays, staysail, staël, stbd, stbd., stc, std

Origin of staysail

First recorded in 1660–70; stay³ + sail

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

Examples from the Web for staysail

Shell trim with the staysail, if we haul another reef down, he said.
The Protector|Harold Bindloss
In front of the fore-mast are the staysail, the jib, and the flying-jib; these last are triangular sails.
Man on the Ocean|R.M. Ballantyne
He had the mainsail hoisted and the staysail flattened down to the port side—so as to back her head off.
Geoffrey Hampstead|Thomas Stinson Jarvis
The tall, handsome, fair-haired Webb leaned over the table and spoke to Staysail almost in a whisper.
Crusoes of the Frozen North|Gordon Stables

The staysail had chain halyards and Marston sent a man aloft with a grease-swab.
Wyndham's Pal|Harold Bindloss

British Dictionary definitions for staysail

staysail

/ (ˈsteɪˌseɪl, ˈsteɪsəl) nautical /

noun

an auxiliary sail, often triangular, set to catch the wind, as between the masts of a yawl (mizzen staysail), aft of a spinnaker (spinnaker staysail), etc

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