Luff

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language

·noun The roundest part of a ship's bow.

II. Luff ·noun The side of a ship toward the wind.

III. Luff ·noun The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.

IV. Luff ·noun The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.

V. Luff ·vi To turn the head of a vessel toward the wind; to sail nearer the wind; to turn the tiller so as to make the vessel sail nearer the wind.

Related Words

  • luff

    , or loofe. The order to the helmsman, so as to bring the ship's head up more to windward. Sometim...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • luff upon luff

    One luff-tackle applied to the fall of another, to afford an increase of purchase. ...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • luff round

    , or luff a-lee. The extreme of the movement, by which it is intended to throw the ship's head up ...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • luff-tackle

    A purchase composed of a double and single block, the standing end of the rope being fast to the sin...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • choke the luff

    To place suddenly the fall of a tackle close to the block across the jaw of the next turn of the rop...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • keep your luff

    An order to the helmsman to keep the ship close to the wind, i.e. sailing with a course as near as p...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • luff and lie

    A very old sea-term for hugging the wind closely. ...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • luff a-lee

    See luff round ...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • luff and touch her!

    Try how near the wind she will come. (See touching.) ...

    The Sailor's Word-Book

  • luff into a harbour, to

    To sail into it, shooting head to wind, gradually. A ship is accordingly said to spring her luff whe...

    The Sailor's Word-Book