tack

¹ American  

[tak] / tæk /

noun

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

2. Nautical.

   1. a rope for extending the lower forward corner of a course.

   2. the lower forward corner of a course or fore-and-aft sail.

   3. the heading of a sailing vessel, when sailing close-hauled, with reference to the wind direction.

   4. a course run obliquely against the wind.

   5. one of the series of straight runs that make up the zigzag course of a ship proceeding to windward.

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

4. one of the movements of a zigzag course on land.

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

6. a fastening, especially of a temporary kind.

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

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

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verb (used with object)

• tacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tacked,
  past participle,  past
• tacking
  present participle

1. to fasten by a tack or tacks.

   to tack a rug to the floor.

2. to secure by some slight or temporary fastening.

3. to join together; unite; combine.

4. to attach as something supplementary; append; annex (often followed by on oronto ).

   Synonyms:

   add, fasten, affix

5. Nautical.

   1. to change the course of (a sailing vessel) to the opposite tack.

   2. to navigate (a sailing vessel) by a series of tacks.

6. to equip (a horse) with tack.

verb (used without object)

• tacks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• tacked,
  past participle,  past
• tacking
  present participle

1. Nautical.

   1. 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.

   2. (of a sailing vessel) to change course in this way.

   3. to proceed to windward by a series of courses as close to the wind as the vessel will sail.

2. to take or follow a zigzag course or route.

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

4. to equip a horse with tack (usually followed byup ).

   Please tack up quickly.

idioms

1. on the wrong tack, under a misapprehension; in error; astray.

   His line of questioning began on the wrong tack.

tack ² American  

[tak] / tæk /

noun

1. food; fare.

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tack ³ American  

[tak] / tæk /

noun

Scot. and North England.

1. a lease, especially on farmland.

2. a rented pasture.

3. a catch, haul, or take of fish.

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tack ¹ British  

/ tæk /

noun

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

2. a long loose temporary stitch used in dressmaking, etc

3. See tailor's-tack

4. a temporary fastening

5. stickiness, as of newly applied paint, varnish, etc

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

7. nautical

   1. a course sailed by a sailing vessel with the wind blowing from forward of the beam

   2. one such course or a zigzag pattern of such courses

8. nautical

   1. a sheet for controlling the weather clew of a course

   2. the weather clew itself

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

10. a course of action differing from some previous course

    he went off on a fresh tack

11. under a false impression

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verb

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

2. to sew (something) with long loose temporary stitches

3. (tr) to attach or append

   tack this letter onto the other papers

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

5. nautical to steer (a sailing vessel) on alternate tacks

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

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

tack ² British  

/ tæk /

noun

1. 1. riding harness for horses, such as saddles, bridles, etc

   2. ( as modifier )

      the tack room

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tack ³ British  

/ tæk /

noun

1. a lease

2. an area of land held on a lease

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tack ⁴ British  

/ tæk /

noun

1. informal food, esp when regarded as inferior or distasteful See also hardtack

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tack More Idioms  

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• tacker
  noun
• tackless
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• tacking
  present
• tacked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• tack
  simple
• tacks
  simple
• have tacked
  perfect
• has tacked
  perfect
• am tacking
  progressive
• are tacking
  progressive
• is tacking
  progressive
• have been tacking
  perfect progressive
• has been tacking
  perfect progressive

Past

• tacked
  simple
• had tacked
  perfect
• was tacking
  progressive
• were tacking
  progressive
• had been tacking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will tack
  simple
• will have tacked
  perfect
• will be tacking
  progressive
• will have been tacking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of tack¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English tak, take, takke “buckle, clasp, nail” (later, “tack”); “protective metal plate (on a cart),” from Old North French taque “back of a chimney”; cognate with German Zacke “prong, point,” Dutch tak “twig, bough”; the verb is derivative of the noun; see tache, attach

Origin of tack²

First recorded in 1740–50; origin uncertain

Origin of tack³

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English tak, takke, tac “fee paid to a lord, customary fee,” from Old Norse tak “hold, grasp, seizure, goods”; see origin at take

Explanation

A tack is a small, sharp pin or nail with a wide head. You can use tacks to attach your flyers to the telephone poles in your neighborhood. As a verb, tack means "attach using a tack," and also, simply "add," the way a movie director sometimes tacks on a happy ending to satisfy the audience. In sailing, a tack is a change of course that results in the wind blowing on the opposite side of the boat: "We decided to make a sharp tack to avoid the iceberg." Tack can also refer to a certain rope used in sailing, or to horseback riding equipment.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tack tacks tacked tacking

Hunt, who has led Campari since the beginning of last year, has taken a different tack to predecessors’ acquisitive strategy, saying he prefers to focus on investing in the group’s core brands like Aperol.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026

The property is also fully equipped as an equestrian facility, boasting a 3,800-square-foot horse barn, with eight stalls, a tack room, and a hay loft.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026

Three of the four said they disliked cold lay repairs and that a properly laid hot fill option, done to the proper depth and with a tack coat emulsion, should last years.

From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026

But he then reportedly reversed tack following calls to One Nation colleagues, asking if he could re-do the answer with the correct policy.

From Barron's ● Jun. 5, 2026

I tack the pages to the wall above my bed.

From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart

He added that the decision to wait for it to conclude "tacks on five or six years or more", describing it as "an unwarranted delay".

From BBC ● May 19, 2026

After warm handshakes and a warning about Taiwan from Xi Jinping on Thursday, the Chinese president and Trump were due to get down to brass tacks on Friday with discussions on trade, geopolitics and AI.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

“Investors are getting down to brass tacks and saying ‘what do we want to own over the next few months,’” MAI’s Grisanti said.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026

“Let’s get down to brass tacks: It’s too expensive to live here.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 21, 2025

The author seems to realize the problem as he proceeds, so he tacks on such that to signal that he is contrasting the two hypotheses after all.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

Another tacked an “s” on Surfside to create surfsidesbeach.org.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026

To win loan deals in recent years, Ares allowed many borrowers to defer paying cash interest with payments-in-kind, or PIK, that get tacked on to the outstanding loan.

From Barron's ● May 6, 2026

So the only reasonable charge was violating the city ordinance against disturbing “the peace of others by violent, offensive or boisterous conduct or language,” but that was tacked on later, in February.

From Slate ● May 4, 2026

While the outro feels tacked on, upon reflection, it’s the missing piece that transforms the movie from a puzzle into a proclamation on group cohesion.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 23, 2026

He’s too far away for me to whisper to him, and the last time somebody was caught passing a note, Mrs. Morris tacked it up on the bulletin board.

From "A Mango-Shaped Space" by Wendy Mass

Private companies added a net 122,000 jobs in May, ADP said Wednesday morning, tacking on more solid gains after the 105,000 roles added in April.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 3, 2026

The shipping companies are also tacking on war and fuel surcharges to some of their routes and scrambling to offer pricier on-land options to their customers.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 13, 2026

"I don't think tacking one way or tacking the other is how we do that."

From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2025

But McNamara needs exoneration, tacking on post-credits the boy’s written response, declaring his VIP guest innocent of pet-care negligence.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2024

My mother was busy keeping sand from blowing onto the blanket, then shaking sand out of shoes, and tacking corners of blankets back down again with the now clean shoes.

From "The Joy Luck Club" by Amy Tan

Related Words

• affix
• fasten
• nail
• paste
• pin
• stitch