Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Luff
Luff
(lŭf)
, Noun.
[OE.
lof
, prob. a sort of timber by which the course of a ship was directed, perh. a sort of paddle; cf. D. loef
luff, loeven
to luff. The word is perh. akin to E. glove
. Cf. Aloof
.] (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.
Totten.
– Luff upon luff
, a luff tackle attached to the fall of another luff tackle.
R. H. Dana, Jr.
Luff
(lŭf)
, Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Luffed
(lŭft)
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Luffing
.] 1.
(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.
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.
Webster 1828 Edition
Luff
LUFF
,Noun.
LUFF
,Noun.
Weather-gage, or part towards the wind; or the sailing of a ship close to the wind.
LUFF
,Verb.
I.
Definition 2025
luff
luff
English
Noun
luff (plural luffs)
- (nautical) The vertical edge of a sail that is closest to the direction of the wind.
- By easing the halyard, the luff of the sail was made to sag to leeward.
- (nautical) The act of sailing a ship close to the wind.
- (nautical) The roundest part of a ship's bow.
- (nautical) The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.
Translations
act of sailing close to the wind
roundest part of a ship's bow
forward or weather leech of a sail
Verb
luff (third-person singular simple present luffs, present participle luffing, simple past and past participle luffed)
- (nautical, of a sail, intransitive) To shake due to being trimmed improperly.
- 1993, John Banville, Ghosts
- I thought how my life is like a little boat and I must hold the tiller steady against the buffeting of wind and waves, and how sometimes, like this morning, I lose my hold somehow and the sail luffs helplessly and the little vessel wallows, turning this way and that in the swell.
- 1993, John Banville, Ghosts
- (nautical, of a boat, intransitive) To alter course to windward so that the sails luff. (Alternatively luff up)
- (nautical, transitive) to let out [a sail] so that it luffs.
- (mechanical) To alter the vertical angle of the jib of a crane so as to bring it level with the load.
- 1999, Howard I. Shapiro, Jay P. Shapiro, Lawrence K. Shapiro, Cranes and Derricks, ISBN 0070578893, page 95:
- The tower is mounted on a slewing platform, which also carries the power plant and the counterweights, while the jib is supported and luffed by fixed pendant ropes.
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Derived terms
Derived terms
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