brail
(noun) a small rope (one of several) used to draw a sail in
brail
(noun) a small net used to draw fish into a boat
brail
(verb) haul fish aboard with brails
brail
(verb) take in a sail with a brail
Source: WordNet® 3.1
brail (plural brails)
(nautical) A small rope used to truss up sails.
(falconry) A thong of soft leather to bind up a hawk's wing.
A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.
(in the plural) The feathers around a hawk's rump.
brail (third-person singular simple present brails, present participle brailing, simple past and past participle brailed)
To reef, shorten or strike sail using brails.
• Arbil, Baril, Blair, Bliar, Libra, Rabil, libra
Source: Wiktionary
Brail, n. Etym: [OE. brayle furling rope, OF. braiol a band placed around the breeches, fr.F. braies, pl., breeches, fr.L. braca, bracae, breeches, a Gallic word; cf. Arm. bragez. Cf. Breeches.]
1. (Falconry)
Definition: A thong of soft leather to bind up a hawk's wing.
2. pl. (Naut.)
Definition: Ropes passing through pulleys, and used to haul in or up the leeches, bottoms, or corners of sails, preparatory to furling.
3. A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.
Brail, v. t. (Naut.)
Definition: To haul up by the brails; -- used with up; as, to brail up a sail.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
14 April 2025
(noun) maximum clarity or distinctness of an image rendered by an optical system; “in focus”; “out of focus”
The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.
