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luff - 5 dictionary results

luff

  [luhf]
Use luff in a Sentence
–noun Nautical.
1. the forward edge of a fore-and-aft sail.
–verb (used without object)
2. to bring the head of a sailing ship closer to or directly into the wind, with sails shaking.
3. (of a sail) to shake from being set too close to the wind: The sail luffed as we put about for port.
4. to raise or lower the outer end of the boom of a crane or derrick so as to move its load horizontally.
–verb (used with object)
5. to set (the helm of a ship) in such a way as to bring the head of the ship into the wind.
6. to raise or lower the outer end of (the boom of a crane or derrick).
Origin:
1175–1225; ME lof, loof steering gear (cf. OF lof) < MD (unrecorded), later D loef tholepin (of tiller)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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luff   (lŭf)   
n.  
    1. The act of sailing closer into the wind.
    2. The forward side of a fore-and-aft sail.
  2. Archaic The fullest part of the bow of a ship.
v.   luffed, luff·ing, luffs

v.   intr.
  1. To steer a sailing vessel closer into the wind, especially with the sails flapping.
  2. To flap while losing wind. Used of a sail.
v.   tr.
  1. To sail (a vessel, such as a yacht) closer into the wind during a race so as to prevent an opponent's craft from passing on the windward side.
  2. To raise or lower (the boom of a crane or derrick).

[Middle English lof, spar holding out the windward tack of a square sail, from Old French, probably of Germanic origin.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Luff

Luff\, n. [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

Luff\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Luffed; p. pr. & vb. n. 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.

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's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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luff 
c.1205, from O.Fr. lof, an obscure nautical device, or from M.Du. loef "windward side of a ship."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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