trysail

[ trahy-seyl; Nautical trahy-suh l ]

/ ˈtraɪˌseɪl; Nautical ˈtraɪ səl /

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.

Nearby words

tryptophan, tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase, tryptophanase, tryptophane, tryptophanuria, trysail, trysail mast, tryst, trysting place, tryworks, trèves

Origin of trysail

First recorded in 1760–70; try + sail

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

Examples from the Web for trysail

Trysail was placed in the launch, at the head of a strong party of boarders.
The Water-Witch or, The Skimmer of the Seas|James Fenimore Cooper
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
The Old Man came up on deck and looked round, and in less than a minute he told us to give her the trysail.
Wandering Ghosts|F. Marion Crawford
I make no complaints, and am a happy man at sea, and I piously hope Mrs. Trysail knows how to submit to her duty at home.
The Water-Witch or, The Skimmer of the Seas|James Fenimore Cooper

I expect we'll be able to shake the reefs out of the trysail and beat up for the Inlet before it's dark.
Thrice Armed|Harold Bindloss

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