Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Nautical, a short piece of rope fastened by the middle in each eyelet-hole of a reef-band, to secure the sail in reefing.
Etymologies
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Examples
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As I had now become used to the vessel and to my duty, I was of some service on a yard, and could knot my reef-point as well as anybody.
Chapter IV. A Rogue-Trouble on Board-“Land Ho!”-Pompero-Cape Horn 1909
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Kirkwood himself dropped as if shot, a trailing reef-point slapping his cheek until it stung as the boom thrashed overhead.
The Black Bag Louis Joseph Vance 1906
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At the finish of this preliminary trip I found myself in excellent health, not overworked or cramped, but as well as ever in my life, though I was as thin as a reef-point.
Sailing Alone Around the World Joshua Slocum 1877
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As I had now become used to the vessel and to my duty, I was of some service on a yard, and could knot my reef-point as well as anybody.
Two years before the mast, and twenty-four years after: a personal narrative 1869
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Soon, we were all strung along the main-topsail-yard; the ship rearing and plunging under us, like a runaway steed; each man gripping his reef-point, and sideways leaning, dragging the sail over toward Jackson, whose business it was to confine the reef corner to the yard.
Redburn. His First Voyage Herman Melville 1855
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But a few repetitions, soon made me used to it; and before long, I tied my reef-point as quickly and expertly as the best of them; never making what they call a "granny - knot," and slipt down on deck by the bare stays, instead of the shrouds.
Redburn. His First Voyage Herman Melville 1855
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As I had now become used to the vessel and to my duty, I was of some service on a yard, and could knot my reef-point as well as anybody.
Two Years Before the Mast Richard Henry Dana 1848
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As I had now become used to the vessel and to my duty, I was of some service on a yard, and could knot my reef-point as well as anybody.
Two Years Before the Mast Richard Henry Dana 1848
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Ha! you needn't go an 'shelter yourself under _her_ wings, wi' your inflated, up in the clouds, reef-point patterin ', balloon-like nonsense. "
Blown to Bits The Lonely Man of Rakata, the Malay Archipelago 1859
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"Ay; but do you handle the brace and the bow-line, the wheel and the lead-line, the reef-point and the top-rope?
Pathfinder; or, the inland sea James Fenimore Cooper 1820
chained_bear commented on the word reef-point
"'There,' said Jack as they all three stood at the quarterdeck barricade, facing forward. There were several other officers on the leeward side and they too watched Stephen's face attentively.
'Where am I to look?' he asked.
'Why, everywhere,' cried both Jack and Fielding.
'It seems much the same to me,' said Stephen.
'Oh for shame,' cried Jack amidst a general sound of disapproval. 'Do you not see the loathesome deck?'
'The rope-yarns hanging about the rigging?' asked Fielding.
'The loose reef-points?' asked the master, moved beyond discretion.
'The fag-ends of rope everywhere?'
'There is a blue patch on this near topsail that may not have been there yesterday,' said Stephen, anxious to please."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Nutmeg of Consolation, 146
March 6, 2008