tack
/tæk/ noun C1- A small nail with a flat head.
- A thumbtack.
- A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.
- The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.
- A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind.
- A direction or course of action, especially a new one; a method or approach to solving a problem.
- The maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the wind changes from one side to the other.
- The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board.
Plural tacks
Phrasal verbs and expressions
From the library
I went to my work as usual at ten o’clock, but the door was shut and locked, with a little square of cardboard hammered on to the middle of the panel with a tack.
However, the vessel and the swimmer insensibly neared one another, and in one of its tacks the tartan bore down within a quarter of a mile of him.
He rose on the waves, making signs of distress; but no one on board saw him, and the vessel stood on another tack.
Other matches
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