spanker-boom

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the boom attached to the aftermost mast of a traditionally rigged sailing vessel, used to extend and control the foot of the spanker sail

   The crew secured a tackle to the spanker-boom before hoisting the cage from the deck.

An English nautical compound of spanker, the fore-and-aft sail at the stern, and boom, the spar along its foot. Spanker is attested as a sail name from the late eighteenth century, but its origin is uncertain; nautical boom was borrowed from Dutch boom ('tree, beam'). The historical hyphenated spelling also appears open as spanker boom.

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External links

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