reef
Part of speech: noun
verb
adj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: nautical
transport
Etymology: From earlier riff, from Middle English rif, from Old Norse rif (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Dutch rif (“reef”), Low German riff, reff (“reef”), German Riff (“reef, ledge”) are also borrowed from Old Norse. Doublet of rib.
Inflected forms:
form: reefs
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: riff
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: reefs
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: reefing
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: reefed
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: reefed
pos: verb
tags: past
form: reefer
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: more reef
pos: adj
tags: comparative
form: reefest
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: most reef
pos: adj
tags: superlative
form: reif
pos: adj
tags: alternative
form: rief
pos: adj
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A chain or range of rocks, sand, or coral lying at or near the surface of the water.
pos: noun
gloss: A large vein of auriferous quartz; hence, any body of rock yielding valuable ore.
pos: noun
tags: Australia
South-Africa
gloss: To take in part of a sail in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.
pos: verb
examples: "When the day arrived that the boy was to be skipper, the weather was calm and fine, but he called all men to reef sails, so the ship had scarcely any sail on her."
1970 July–December, Margaret Quilty, Roller Reefing Made Easy, Boating, page 63,
Be sure the blocks are securely mounted—they carry a fairish load when the sail is reefed.
If both reefing line and main halyard are led to the cockpit, even singlehanded reefing is a breeze.
Mains are made smaller by reefing. This can be done by rolling up the sail around the boom, or by the more traditional method of tying down a panel along the foot.
The reefing system for a mainsail must be designed to operate efficiently under adverse conditions and to provide proper sail shape when reefed.
gloss: To pull or yank strongly, especially in relation to horse riding.
pos: verb
tags: Australia
examples: And when the Cup came on he stirred them up ′round the barrier and he flew out of the barrier and he pulled and reefed and pulled and reefed and Lewis didn′t let him settle down until about three furlongs from home and when he did settle the horse was all out of stride and he went back through the field a fair bit.
Alf told me that one young white stockman, eager to impress the girls, went outside and mounted his horse, then began showing off his prowess, racing past the pub, wheeling and reefing his horse up and down the street, yackeyeing and whooping, flogging his horse with a battered old hat and always turning towards the pub to see if the girls were watching these feats of horsemanship.
He reefed on the handbrake and sat smoking his cigarette, gazing out through the windscreen at the driveway.
[…]head stockman would say ‘Cut one out but take him at a walk.′ And if you could get that beast out without reefing your horse around, the head stockman – he′d be a pretty cluey old coot - he′s watching that horse′s ears more than what you were doing.
gloss: To move the floats of a paddle wheel toward its center so that they will not dip so deeply.
pos: verb
examples: Reef the paddles.
gloss: To manipulate the lining of a person's pocket in order to steal the contents unnoticed.
pos: verb
tags: slang
examples: This was done by "reefing." He put two fingers just inside the opening and lifted the lining a trifle. Although I watched his hands, I could feel nothing, so gently did his fingers work. Reefing a couple of times, he lifted my handkerchief, as he might have taken out anything else.
gloss: Scabby; scurvy.
pos: adj
Derived words: backreef
Barneys Reef
barrier reef
Barrys Reef
close-reef
coral reef
Douglas Reef
Douglass Reef
Fiery Cross Reef
forereef
Forest Reefs
fringing reef
interreef
Junee Reefs
McMahons Reef
Napoleon Reef
Ocean Reef
reefage
reefal
reef and beef
reef crab
reef fish
reefgoby
reef knoll
reeflike
reef line
reefpoint
reef point
reef rash
reef shark
reef squid
Reef Station
reef-tackle
Reefton
reef triggerfish
reefwalker
reefwalking
reefward
reefwards
reefwide
reefy
saddle back reef
saddle reef
Staffordshire Reef
take a reef in
Vuladdore Reef
Welshmans Reef
Woodsreef
yellowtail reef fish
reef-band
reefless
disreef
reefable
unreef
unreefed
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