noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A part of the rigging of a sailing ship extending from the top of the mast (masthead) to the back of the ship; they support the strain on all upper masts and provide additional support to the shrouds when the wind is abaft the beam.
2. 2
   a stay that supports the back of something wordnet
3. 3
   A strengthening or supporting piece that is built into the back of something.

Synonyms

All synonyms

forestay

Etymology

From back + stay.

Related phrases

sailing ship

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.