trysail

[ trahy-seyl; Nautical trahy-suhl ]

/ ˈtraɪˌseɪl; Nautical ˈtraɪ səl /

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noun Nautical.

a triangular or quadrilateral sail having its luff hooped or otherwise bent to a mast, used for lying to or keeping a vessel headed into the wind; spencer.

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Origin of trysail

First recorded in 1760–70; try + sail

Words nearby trysail

tryptic, tryptophan, tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase, tryptophanase, tryptophanuria, trysail, trysail mast, try square, tryst, trysting place, tryworks

How to use trysail in a sentence

Her three topmasts were housed, and she was hove-to under the lee clew of her close-reefed topsail and a small storm-trysail.
With Airship and Submarine|Harry Collingwood
A snow was a small vessel like a brig except for having a supplementary third, or trysail, mast.
Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period|Various
He now gave the word to set the trysail; and the mainsail being stowed, it was hoisted in its stead.
A Yacht Voyage Round England|W.H.G. Kingston
Ten minutes' work and it was securely fastened and its cover on; two reefs were put in the trysail.
Among Malay Pirates|G. A. Henty

In proof of that we could see back behind us where the Nannie O, under her trysail, was almost holding her own.
The Seiners|James B. (James Brendan) Connolly

British Dictionary definitions for trysail

trysail

/ (ˈtraɪˌseɪl, nautical ˈtraɪsəl) /

noun

a small fore-and-aft sail, triangular or square, set on the mainmast of a sailing vessel in foul weather to help keep her head to the windAlso called: storm trysail

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