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tack

¹

[tak]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tack ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a short, sharp-pointed nail, usually with a flat, broad head.

Nautical.

a rope for extending the lower forward corner of a course.
the lower forward corner of a course or fore-and-aft sail.
the heading of a sailing vessel, when sailing close-hauled, with reference to the wind direction.
a course run obliquely against the wind.
one of the series of straight runs that make up the zigzag course of a ship proceeding to windward.

a course of action or conduct, especially one differing from some preceding or other course.

one of the movements of a zigzag course on land.

a stitch, especially a long stitch used in fastening seams, preparatory to a more thorough sewing.

a fastening, especially of a temporary kind.

stickiness, as of nearly dry paint or glue or of a printing ink or gummed tape; adhesiveness.

the gear used in equipping a horse, including saddle, bridle, martingale, etc.

verb (used with object)

to fasten by a tack or tacks: to tack a rug to the floor.

to secure by some slight or temporary fastening.

to join together; unite; combine.

to attach as something supplementary; append; annex (often followed by on or onto).

Nautical.

to change the course of (a sailing vessel) to the opposite tack.
to navigate (a sailing vessel) by a series of tacks.

to equip (a horse) with tack.

verb (used without object)

Nautical.

to change the course of a sailing vessel by bringing the head into the wind and then causing it to fall off on the other side: He ordered us to tack at once.
(of a sailing vessel) to change course in this way.
to proceed to windward by a series of courses as close to the wind as the vessel will sail.

to take or follow a zigzag course or route.

to change one's course of action, conduct, ideas, etc.

to equip a horse with tack (usually followed by up): Please tack up quickly.

Idioms

on the wrong tack, under a misapprehension; in error; astray: His line of questioning began on the wrong tack.

Origin of tack

¹

1300–50; (noun) Middle English tak buckle, clasp, nail (later, tack); cognate with German Zacke prong, Dutch tak twig; (v.) Middle English tacken to attach, derivative of the noun; see tache, attach

Related formstack·er, nountack·less, adjective

Can be confusedtack tact track tracttacks tax

Synonyms for tack

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR tack ON THESAURUS.COM

12. affix, fasten, add.

tack

²

[tak]

noun

food; fare.

Origin of tack

²

First recorded in 1740–50; origin uncertain

tack

³

[tak]

noun Scot. and North England.

a lease, especially on farmland.

a rented pasture.

a catch, haul, or take of fish.

Origin of tack

³

1250–1300; Middle English tak < Old Norse tak goods, seizure, grasp. See take

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

Related Words for tack

tangent, stitch, pin, affix, nail, fasten, paste, bearing, swerve, digression, zigzag, sweep, set, bend, yaw, siding, way, approach, method, deviation

Examples from the Web for tack

Contemporary Examples of tack

Pulling oil from the tar sands is costly, even more so when you tack transportation costs on top.
Fact-Checking the Sunday Shows: Jan. 4
PunditFact.com
January 5, 2015
Anytime we have to put up the sail or tack or do any maneuvering, it requires all hands on deck.
Inside Sailing’s Biggest Race
Lizzie Crocker
October 11, 2014
This second tack, the one that has worked for Hughes, is probably the most viable for Lewinsky, he thinks.
Donna Rice: ‘My Heart Really Goes Out to Monica Lewinsky’
Keli Goff
May 9, 2014
Paul has seen what happens when a candidate takes the tack Cruz appears to be taking with great relish.
Rand Paul Controls the Wacko Bird Flight
Sam Youngman
September 29, 2013
The tack denies the agency of Israeli and Palestinian leaders themselves, and elides scores upon scores of their own missteps.
Israelis And Palestinians Blast Kerry For Peace Efforts
Ali Gharib
May 17, 2013

Historical Examples of tack

It is well enough on this tack, but I would have you tell me what I am to do on the other.
The White Company
Arthur Conan Doyle
We were able to lay past the enemy on this tack, and fairly got to windward of them.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
For two days and one night we had it, tack and tack, with her.
Ned Myers
James Fenimore Cooper
She will do this until she manages to get around on one tack or the other.
Boys' Book of Model Boats
Raymond Francis Yates
Archie gained on every tack and come about for the run a full minute afore us.
Cape Cod Stories
Joseph C. Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for tack

tack

¹

noun

a short sharp-pointed nail, usually with a flat and comparatively large head

British a long loose temporary stitch used in dressmaking, etc

See tailor's-tack

a temporary fastening

stickiness, as of newly applied paint, varnish, etc

nautical the heading of a vessel sailing to windward, stated in terms of the side of the sail against which the wind is pressing

nautical

a course sailed by a sailing vessel with the wind blowing from forward of the beam
one such course or a zigzag pattern of such courses

nautical

a sheet for controlling the weather clew of a course
the weather clew itself

nautical the forward lower clew of a fore-and-aft sail

a course of action differing from some previous coursehe went off on a fresh tack

on the wrong tack under a false impression

verb

(tr) to secure by a tack or series of tacks

British to sew (something) with long loose temporary stitches

(tr) to attach or appendtack this letter onto the other papers

nautical to change the heading of (a sailing vessel) to the opposite tack

nautical to steer (a sailing vessel) on alternate tacks

(intr) nautical (of a sailing vessel) to proceed on a different tack or to alternate tacks

(intr) to follow a zigzag route; keep changing one's course of action

Derived Formstackless, adjective

Word Origin for tack

C14 tak fastening, nail; related to Middle Low German tacke pointed instrument

tack

²

noun

informal food, esp when regarded as inferior or distastefulSee also hardtack

Word Origin for tack

C19: of unknown origin

tack

³

noun

riding harness for horses, such as saddles, bridles, etc
(as modifier)the tack room

Word Origin for tack

C20: shortened from tackle

tack

⁴

noun Scot

a lease

an area of land held on a lease

Word Origin for tack

C15: from tak a Scots word for take

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

Word Origin and History for tack

n.1

"clasp, hook, fastener," also "a nail of some kind," late 13c., from Old North French taque "nail, pin, peg," probably from a Germanic source (cf. Middle Dutch tacke "twig, spike," Low German takk "tine, pointed thing," German Zacken "sharp point, tooth, prong"); perhaps related to tail. Meaning "small, sharp nail with a flat head" is attested from mid-15c. The meaning "rope to hold the corner of a sail in place" is first recorded late 14c.

n.2

"horse's harness, etc.," 1924, shortening of tackle (n.) in sense of "equipment." Tack in a non-equestrian sense as a shortening of tackle is recorded in dialect from 1777.

n.3

"food," 1833, perhaps a shortening and special use of tackle (n.) in the sense of "gear."

v.1

late 14c., "to attach with a nail, etc.," from tack (n.1). Meaning "to attach as a supplement" (with suggestion of hasty or arbitrary proceeding) is from 1680s. Related: Tacked; tacking.

v.2

"sail into the wind," 1550s, from tack (n.1) in the sailing sense. Figurative sense of "course or line of conduct or action" is from 1670s. Related: Tacked; tacking.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper

Idioms and Phrases with tack

tack

see get down to brass tacks; on the right tack; sharp as a tack.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.