Furl
/fɝl/ verb
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To lower, roll up and secure (something, such as a sail or flag) transitive
"With the landless gull, that at sunset folds her wings and is rocked to sleep between billows; so at nightfall, the Nantucketer, out of sight of land, furls his sails, and lays him to his rest, while under his very pillow rush herds of walruses and whales."
- 2 form into a cylinder by rolling wordnet
Example
More examples"We furl the sails, and shoreward row amain. / Eastward the harbour arches, scarce descried. / Two jutting rocks, by billows lashed in vain, / stretch out their arms the narrow mouth to hide. / Far back the temple stands, and seems to shun the tide."
Etymology
Perhaps from Old French ferlier, modern French ferler.