Furl

//fɝl// verb

verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 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. 2
    form into a cylinder by rolling wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
bowlreefrollroll uproll upswirl

Antonyms

All antonyms
unfurl

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.

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