spritsail, sprit-sail Naut.
(ˈsprɪtseɪl, ˈsprɪts(ə)l)
Forms: (see sprit n.1 and sail n.1); also 7 sprissel, sprisle.
[f. sprit n.1 Cf. Du. sprietzeil, WFris. -seil, NFris. spritseil, spretsaiel, Da. spritsejl, Sw. -segel, G. sprietsegel.]
1. A sail extended by a sprit; formerly also a sail attached to a yard slung under the bowsprit of large vessels.
| α 1466 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 344 My mastyr paid to Willyam Elyse for to carye his sprete seyle of the kervelle to Yipswyche. 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 303 Tyes for the Sprette Sayle. 1616 Capt. Smith Descr. New Eng. 49 Onely her spret saile remayned to spoon before the wind, till we had reaccommodated a Iury mast. 1627 ― Seaman's Gram. vii. 32 The Spret-saile is 3/4 parts the depth of the fore saile. 1694 Motteux Rabelais iv. xviii. (1737) 76 He..made them..take in their Spreet-sail. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expos. 150 Smacks are necessary Transporting Vessels, with one Mast and half Spreet-sail. |
| β 1485 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 41 Spritt sailes feble, j. 1582 N. Lichefield tr. Castanheda's Conq. E. Ind. i. xxix. 72 b, The Captaine generall commanded..to fardle up their sprits sailes. 1598 Lodge Looking Gl. Lond. & Eng. F ij b, Our topsailes vp, we trusse our spritsailes in. 1655 Heywood & Rowley Fortune by Land and Sea iv, Our Spright-sayl, Top-sail, and Top-gallant..are hung with waving pendants. 1671 Lond. Gaz. No. 621/1 With great difficulty the Swallow,..having onely a Mainsayl and Sprit⁓sayl left,.. performed her Voyage. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 107 We unbent the Mizzen and Sprit-sail. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship 42 Barges, Pinnaces, and Yawls, with Sprit-sails. 1839 Marryat Phant. Ship viii. (Rtldg.) 66 She carried a square spritsail and sprit-topsail. 1891 Spectator 7 Feb. 211/1 The spritsail, the object of which is to get the advantage of a lofty peak and retain a short mast. |
b. ellipt. A spritsail barge.
| 1881 Standard 22 June 3/7 The leading topsail barges at this part of the race overhauled the spritsails. |
2. attrib. a. In the sense ‘of or belonging to a spritsail’, as
spritsail brace,
spritsail brails,
spritsail clewline, etc.
| 1599 Dallam in Early Voy. Levant (Hakluyt Soc.) 59 Myssen top, sprid saile top. 1626 Capt. Smith Wks. (Arb.) II. 793 The spret sayle top mast, the spret sayle top sayle yard. 1627 ― Seaman's Gram. 31 marg., Spretsaile top-Saile. 1669 Sturmy Mariner's Mag. 16 Let go the Sprit sail Breales, and hale aft the Sheets. Ibid. 17 Vere out..your Fore and Main-sheets, and Sprisle-sheets. 1676 Wiseman Surgery vi. v. 425 Our men bravely quitted themselves of the Fire-ship by cutting the Sprit-sail-Tackle off with their short Hatchets. 1692 Smith's Seaman's Gram. i. xiv. 65 Spritsail Clewlines. 1698 in MSS. Ho. Lords New Ser. III. (1905) 34 The..rope was expended..for mizen top gallant mast and spritsail top gallant mast. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 112 Sprit-sail Lifts. 1750 T. R. Blanckley Naval Expos. 12 Spritsail Sheat Blocks are turn'd. 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1780) s.v., Formerly the spritsail⁓topsails were set on a mast, which was erected..on the end of the bowsprit. 1794 Rigging & Seamanship 135 Spritsail-Topgallant-sail is quadrilateral,..and is bent on the head, to the spritsail-topgallant-yard. c 1810 Adm. Patton in 19th Cent. (1899) 723 A seaman..let go the sprit-sail brace. 1860 All Year Round No. 66. 382 ‘Which knot?’ asked Toby. ‘Single or double wall,..spritsail-sheet, stopper, or shroud?’ c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 3 Spritsail gaff on bowsprit. |
b. spritsail yard, a yard slung under the bowsprit to support a spritsail. Also
attrib.| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. iii. 16 The spret-saile Yard [must be] 16. yards long, and but 9. inches thicke. 1687 Lond. Gaz. No. 2246/4 A Sally Man of War,..with his Men on his Bowsprit and his Sprissel-yards along Ships. 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 281 We..got our Spritsail yard fore and aft,..which is an infallible Sign of a Design to board the Enemy. 1797 S. James Narr. Voy. 28 The boatswain, and others of the English seamen, were sitting at the spritsail yard. c 1810 Adm. Patton in 19th Cent. (1899) 723 Five of the enemy had got upon our starboard sprit-sail yard-arm. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxv. 83 The spritsail yard sprung in the slings. |
c. In the sense ‘carrying a spritsail’, as
spritsail barge,
spritsail vessel.
| 1798 Ann. Reg., Chron. 40/2 As a sprit-sail vessel..was coming up the river. 1885 Daily Tel. 27 Oct. (Encycl. Dict.), The well-known sprit-sail barge, a vessel with a mainsail that sets on a sprit. |
Hence
spritsail-yard v. trans., to disable (a shark, dog-fish, etc.) by thrusting a spar or piece of wood through the snout or gills.
| 1835 Marryat Pacha of Many Tales ix. (Rtldg.) 111 The shark..had been caught and spritsail-yarded, as the seamen term it. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 646 Sprit-sail yarding, a cruelty in which some fishermen wreak vengeance on sharks, dog-fish, etc., that encroach on their baits, and foul their nets. |