LUFF • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Luff

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/ləf/ Listen

verb

Luff v. i. (past & past part. luffed; pres. part. luffing)

(Naut.) 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.

(Naut.) To flutter or shake from being aligned close to the direction of the wind; said of a sail.

To luff round, or To luff alee, to make the extreme of this movement, for the purpose of throwing the ship's head into the wind.

noun

Luff n. (Naut.)

(a)

The side of a ship toward the wind.

(b)

The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.

(c)

The roundest part of a ship's bow.

(d)

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

Luff tackle, a purchase composed of a double and single block and fall, used for various purposes.

Luff upon luff, a luff tackle attached to the fall of another luff tackle.

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Etymology of 'Luff'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Luff" Quotes from Famous Books

... he cried. "She's gone—Luff her, I tell you!" He sprang back, jamming the tiller from him. "Let her out, ...

— Uncle William - The Man Who Was Shif'less • Jennette Lee

... man at the wheel had gone through the nautical evolution involved in "luff," the captain turned to his ...

— Blown to Bits - or, The Lonely Man of Rakata • Robert Michael Ballantyne

... ship or fleet by night, if the ship or fleet be to windward of you, and you to windward of the admiral, you shall presently bear up to give us knowledge. But if you think that (did you not bear up) you might speak with her, then you shall keep your luff,[5] and shoot off a piece of ordnance to ...

— Fighting Instructions, 1530-1816 - Publications Of The Navy Records Society Vol. XXIX. • Julian S. Corbett

... No fighting on the premises. Stand up, you rascal. What have you done with the pewter? Ah, crushed out of all shape and use. That's what Molly Luff sed of her new bonnet when she sat down on it—Lawk, a biddy! ...

— The Broom-Squire • S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

... (Tracy) John Marshe John Luff Henry Traske William Moudey Robert Sever Thomas Avery Henry Travers Thomas Sweete John Woodbridge Thomas West Thomas Savery Christopher Osgood Phillip Fowler Richard Jacob Daniel Ladd Robert Kingsman John Bartlett Robert Coker William Savery John Anthoney (left behind) Stephen ...

— Old New England Traits • Anonymous

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