shoulder-of-mutton sail en · NOUN
Etymology
From its shape.
Meanings
-
A triangular sail attached to the top of a boat's mast. It may also attach to a boom.
a long galley with three masts, each dressed with a single cross-spar for carrying a leg-of-mutton sail, and on the shore a couple of ship's boats with a company of men waiting to transport our goods and us aboard.
1895, Frank Barrett, A Set of Rogues:Now I wished for my boy Xury, and the long-boat with shoulder-of-mutton sail, with which I sailed above a thousand miles on the coast of Africa
1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| shoulder-of-mutton sails | Number=Plur | lexicographic |