reef
verb · noun · adjective
Simple meaning
To take in part of a sail to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
reefIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈɹif
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
nautical
To take in part of a sail in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.
Australia
To pull or yank strongly, especially in relation to horse riding.
noun
A submerged ridge of rock or coral near the surface of the water
A chain or range of rocks, sand, or coral lying at or near the surface of the water.
nautical
One of several strips across a sail that can be taken in or rolled up to lessen the area of the sail that is exposed to the wind
nautical
A portion of a sail rolled and tied down to lessen the area exposed in a high wind.
AustraliaSouth Africa
A large vein of auriferous quartz; hence, any body of rock yielding valuable ore.
A reef knot.
adjective
Scabby; scurvy.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To take in part of a sail in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.
Used this way, reef is a specialist word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. This is a nautical use: it is standard at sea and largely unfamiliar ashore.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Specialist/technical
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Specialized
- Connotation
- Clinical and technical
- Usage feel
- Technical and specialized
Where it naturally appears
- Sailing/maritime
- Technical/specialist writing
Usage note
In general conversation this sense usually needs explaining — outside its field, people reach for a plainer word.
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use reef
- “Divers explored the colorful coral reef teeming with fish.”
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.