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In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people.
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1828 Noah Webster Dictionary
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1828.mshaffer.com › Word [reef]

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reef

REEF, n.

A certain portion of a sail between the top or bottom and a row of eyelet holes, which is folded or rolled up to contract the sail, when the violence of the wind renders it necessary.

REEF, n.

A chain or range of rocks lying at or near the surface of the water.

REEF, v.t. [from the noun.] To contract or reduce the extent of a sail by rolling or folding a certain portion of it and making it fast to the yard.



Evolution (or devolution) of this word [reef]

1828 Webster1844 Webster1913 Webster

REEF, n.

A certain portion of a sail between the top or bottom and a row of eyelet holes, which is folded or rolled up to contract the sail, when the violence of the wind renders it necessary.

REEF, n.

A chain or range of rocks lying at or near the surface of the water.

REEF, v.t. [from the noun.] To contract or reduce the extent of a sail by rolling or folding a certain portion of it and making it fast to the yard.


REEF, n.1 [D. reef; Dan. riv or rift; Sw. ref. These words coincide in orthography with the verb to rive, and if from this root, the primary sense is a division, W. rhiv and rhif. But in Welsh, rhêv signifies a collection or bundle, as thick; rhevu, to thicken in compass; and if from this root a reef is a fold, and to reef is to fold.]

A certain portion of a sail between the top or bottom and a row of eyelet holes, which is folded or rolled up to contract the sail, when the violence of the wind renders it necessary. – Mar. Dict.


REEF, n.2 [G. riff; D. rif, a reef or sand bank, a carcase, a skeleton. Qu. W. rhevu, to thicken.]

A chain or range of rocks lying at or near the surface of the water. – Mar. Dict.


REEF, v.t. [from the noun.]

To contract or reduce the extent of a sail by rolling or folding a certain portion of it and making it fast to the yard. – Mar. Dict.


Reef
  1. A chain or range of rocks lying at or near the surface of the water. See Coral reefs, under Coral.
  2. That part of a sail which is taken in or let out by means of the reef points, in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.

    * From the head to the first reef-band, in square sails, is termed the first reef; from this to the next is the second reef; and so on. In fore-and-aft sails, which reef on the foot, the first reef is the lowest part. Totten.

    Close reef, the last reef that can be put in. -- Reef band. See Reef-band in the Vocabulary. -- Reef knot, the knot which is used in tying reef pointss. See Illust. under Knot. -- Reef line, a small rope formerly used to reef the courses by being passed spirally round the yard and through the holes of the reef. Totten. -- Reef points, pieces of small rope passing through the eyelet holes of a reef-band, and used reefing the sail. -- Reef tackle, a tackle by which the reef cringles, or rings, of a sail are hauled up to the yard for reefing. Totten. -- To take a reef in, to reduce the size of (a sail) by folding or rolling up a reef, and lashing it to the spar.

  3. To reduce the extent of (as a sail) by roiling or folding a certain portion of it and making it fast to the yard or spar.

    Totten.

    To reef the paddles, to move the floats of a paddle wheel toward its center so that they will not dip so deeply.

  4. A large vein of auriferous quartz; -- so called in Australia. Hence, any body of rock yielding valuable ore.

    Reef builder (Zoöl.), any stony coral which contributes material to the formation of coral reefs. -- Reef heron (Zoöl.), any heron of the genus Demigretta; as, the blue reef heron (D. jugularis) of Australia.

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Reef

REEF, noun

A certain portion of a sail between the top or bottom and a row of eyelet holes, which is folded or rolled up to contract the sail, when the violence of the wind renders it necessary.

REEF, noun

A chain or range of rocks lying at or near the surface of the water.

REEF, verb transitive [from the noun.] To contract or reduce the extent of a sail by rolling or folding a certain portion of it and making it fast to the yard.

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Word of the Day

importance

IMPORT'ANCE, n.

1. Weight; consequence; a bearing on some interest; that quality of any thing by which it may affect a measure, interest or result. The education of youth is of great importance to a free government. A religious education is of infinite importance to every human being.

2. Weight or consequence in the scale of being.

Thy own importance know.

Nor bound thy narrow views to things below.

3. Weight or consequence in self-estimation.

He believes himself a man of importance.

4. Thing implied; matter; subject; importunity. [In these senses, obsolete.]

Random Word

convalescence

CONVALESCENCE, CONVALESCENCY, n. [L., to grow stronger; to get strength, to be strong. See Well and Avail.] Renewal of health; the insensible recovery of health and strength after disease; the state of a body renewing its vigor after sickness or weakness.

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