Brail

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɹeɪl/
• Rhymes: -eɪl

Origin

Old French braiel, from Medieval Latin bracale ‘girdle’ (from bracae ‘breeches’).

Full definition of brail

Noun

1. (nautical) A small rope used to truss up sails.
2. (falconry) A thong of soft leather to bind up a hawk's wing.
3. A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.

Verb

1. To reef, shorten or strike sail using brails.
• 1993: The winds blew at their own caprice and there was brailing and loosing of canvas. — Anthony Burgess, A Dead Man in Deptford

Anagrams

• Arbil
• libra, Libra