Reef

Reef, rēf, n. a portion of a sail rolled or folded up.—v.t. to reduce the exposed surface of, as a sail: to gather up any material in a similar way.—ns. Reef′-band, a strong strip of canvas extending across a sail to strengthen it; Reef′er, a reef-oyster: one who reefs: a short jacket worn by sailors: a midshipman; Reef′-goose, the common wild goose of North America; Reef′ing, the gathering up of a curtain in short festoons; Reef′ing-jack′et, a pea-jacket; Reef′-knot, a square knot; Reef′-line, a temporary means of spilling a sail; Reef′-pend′ant, in fore and aft sails, a rope through a sheave-hole in the boom; Reef′-squid, a lashing used aboard the luggers on the south coast of England; Reef′-tack′le, a tackle used to facilitate reefing.—adjs. Reef′y, full of reefs; Close′-reefed, the condition of a sail when all its reefs have been taken in. [Dut. reef, reef; Ice. rif, Dan. reb.]