trysail Hear it!

trysail definition

try·sail (trī′sāl′; naut., -səl)

noun

a small, sturdy, fore-and-aft sail hoisted when other canvas has been lowered, to keep a vessel's head to the wind in a storm

Etymology: < naut. phr. a try, the position of lying to in a storm

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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