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mainsail

  (mān'səl, -sāl') pronunciation
n.
  1. The principal sail of a vessel.
  2. A quadrilateral or triangular sail set from the after part of the mainmast on a fore-and-aft rigged vessel.
  3. A square sail set from the main yard on a square-rigged vessel.

 
 

[ܒmānsǝl; -ܖsāl]

ˈmānsǝl; -ܖsāl n. 1. the principal sail of a ship, especially the lowest sail on the mainmast in a square-rigged vessel.

2. the sail set on the after side of the mainmast in a fore-and-aft-rigged vessel.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

 
WordNet: mainsail
Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: the lowermost sail on the mainmast


 
Wikipedia: mainsail
The mainsail of this cutter is indicated in red
Enlarge
The mainsail of this cutter is indicated in red

A mainsail is the most important sail raised from the main (or only) mast of a sailing vessel.

On a square rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest sail on the main mast.

On a fore-and-aft rigged vessel, it is the lowest and largest and often the only sail rigged aft of the main mast, and is controlled along its foot by a spar known as the boom. A sail rigged in this position without a boom is generally called a trisail, and is used in extremely heavy weather.

The modern bermuda rig uses a triangular mainsail as the only sail aft of the mast, closely coordinated with a jib for sailing upwind. A large overlapping jib or genoa is often larger than the mainsail. In downwind conditions (with the wind behind the boat) a spinnaker replaces the jib.

Traditional fore-and-aft rigs used a gaff to control the top of the mainsail, sometimes setting a topsail above it.


 
Translations: Translations for: Mainsail

Dansk (Danish)
n. - storsejl

Nederlands (Dutch)
grootzeil

Français (French)
n. - grand-voile

Deutsch (German)
n. - Großsegel

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ναυτ.) πανί της μαϊστρας

Italiano (Italian)
vela maestra

Português (Portuguese)
n. - vela mestra (f) (Náut.)

Русский (Russian)
грот

Español (Spanish)
n. - vela mayor, vela principal

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - storsegel

中文(简体) (Chinese (Simplified))
大桅的帆, 大桅帆, 主帆

中文(繁體) (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 大桅的帆, 大桅帆, 主帆

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 주돛

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 大檣帆, メーンスル

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الشراع الرئيسي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מפרש ראשי‬


 
 

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
US Military Dictionary. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Mainsail" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

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