reefed

English

Verb

reefed

1. simple past and past participle of reef

Adjective

reefed (comparative more reefed, superlative most reefed)

1. (nautical) Having part of a sail tied up in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.
   • 1887, Mrs. Dominic D. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 16:

     The mainsail was "scandalised" - a nautical mode of describing a sail reefed at both ends[.]

2. (aviation, space flight, of a parachute) Semi-deployed, with the canopy initially restricted from fully opening, in order to avoid subjecting the canopy to excessive air loads or the payload to excessive g-forces from fully deploying at high airspeed.

Derived terms

• close-reefed
• unreefed

Anagrams

• feeder, ferede, refeed