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

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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

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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

After lunch, and ironically given Warner's words, Australia changed tack completely, with Cummins facing 40 balls before scoring a run as he abandoned any thought of victory with two sessions to go.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

You have to wonder if he’ll lose a bit of the arrogance, if the space between Watters’ segments and the network’s chosen tack will grow even wider.

From Salon ● Oct. 25, 2026

What’s less clear is whether its president, Christine Lagarde, will signal even more restrictive policy in the months to come or whether she will tack a more cautious, non-committal course.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026

The Five-Pocket Tote has classic denim details such as belt loops, shank buttons and bar tack stitching.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

Seeing the tack and thinking he was racing that day, Seabiscuit would become keyed up, lose interest in eating, and fret weight off.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

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

For a company founded by ex-OpenAI executives disaffected with Sam Altman’s business practices, it seemingly has little compunction about the aggressive tacks it’s already taken to shore up its $380 billion bottom line.

From Slate ● Mar. 3, 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

We skulked about in the banana-smelling darkness, examining the wall over the plank counter where Mother tacks up pictures she tears out of magazines.

From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver

Void years tacked onto the end of contracts thin that out further.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 27, 2026

They tacked on another in the ninth with a pair of singles and a stolen base off Wrobleski.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 15, 2026

At an election rally in the town of Querfurt, 70-year-old Gerd has tacked a small, frayed German flag to the handles of his mobility scooter.

From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026

Rattle needed to rebuild much of its underlying software so that AI agents were at the center of the architecture, not tacked on the outside.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

It was a typical student apartment: prints of modern French paintings tacked onto the walls and books and papers piled on tables and chairs.

From "Hitler Youth: Growing Up in Hitler's Shadow" by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

A law passed in 2023 prohibits small-business lenders from tacking on certain fees, including a fee for processing a payment on the loan or advance.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

Ordinary maneuvers such as tacking and gybing—both of which involve swinging the mainsail from one side of the vessel to the other—are arduous for the solo sailor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026

For example, a coalition of advocacy groups is seeking to prevent Spectrum from tacking on equipment charges for customers on low-income plans.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026

One trend helping travelers stretch their budgets is “trip stacking,” or tacking a vacation onto something you were already doing out of town.

From MarketWatch ● May 19, 2026

Once clear of land he brought her around, up into the wind until she was tacking northwest and making a solid six knots.

From "The Voyage Of The Frog" by Gary Paulsen

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Related Words

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

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