[furl] 
| 1. | to gather into a compact roll and bind securely, as a sail against a spar or a flag against its staff. |
| 2. | to become furled. |
| 3. | the act of furling. |
| 4. | something furled, as a roll. |
| 5. | furl in a body, Nautical. to furl (a square sail) with loose canvas gathered at the mast, so as to make a harbor furl. |
| 6. | furl in the bunt, Nautical. to furl (a square sail) by gathering canvas upward, so as to load the yard equally at all points. |
| furl (fûrl) v. furled, furl·ing, furls v. tr. To roll up and secure (a flag or sail, for example) to something else. v. intr. To be or become rolled up. n.
[Perhaps from French ferler, from Old French ferlier, to fasten : ferm, firm; see firm1 + lier, to bind (from Latin ligāre; see leig- in Indo-European roots).] |