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Tack

//tæk// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    A small nail with a flat head. countable, uncountable

    "A tough test for even the strongest climber, it was new to the Tour de France this year, but its debut will be remembered for the wrong reasons after one of those spectators scattered carpet tacks on the road and induced around 30 punctures among the group of riders including Bradley Wiggins, the Tour's overall leader, and his chief rivals."

  2. 2
    A stain; a tache.
  3. 3
    That which is tacky; something cheap and gaudy. colloquial, uncountable

    "For souvenirs – mostly outright tack and ethnicky textiles – try your bargaining skills at the shops and stalls on Binjiang Luand Zhengyang Jie, or the nightly street market spreading for about a block either side of Shanhu Bridge along Zhongshan Lu."

  4. 4
    A contract by which the use of a thing is set, or let, for hire; a lease. Northern-England, Scotland

    "In the Breadalbane papers, for example, there is a "tack" which was given by Sir John Campbell of Glenurchy to his "weil belouit" servant John M'Conoquhy V'Gregour, in the year 1530."

  5. 5
    sailing a zigzag course wordnet
Show 19 more definitions
  1. 6
    A thumbtack. countable, uncountable
  2. 7
    A peculiar flavour or taint. obsolete

    "a musty tack"

  3. 8
    (nautical) the act of changing tack wordnet
  4. 9
    A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth. countable, uncountable
  5. 10
    (nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind wordnet
  6. 11
    The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind. countable, uncountable
  7. 12
    gear for a horse wordnet
  8. 13
    A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind. countable, uncountable
  9. 14
    a short nail with a sharp point and a large head wordnet
  10. 15
    A direction or course of action, especially a new one; a method or approach to solving a problem. countable, figuratively, uncountable

    "So stoutly held to tack by those near North-wales men;"

  11. 16
    the heading or position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails wordnet
  12. 17
    The maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the wind changes from one side to the other. countable, uncountable
  13. 18
    The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board. countable, uncountable
  14. 19
    A rope used to hold in place the foremost lower corners of the courses when the vessel is close-hauled; also, a rope employed to pull the lower corner of a studding sail to the boom. countable, uncountable
  15. 20
    Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. countable, uncountable
  16. 21
    The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties. countable, uncountable

    "The laminate adhesive has very aggressive tack and is hard to move once in place."

  17. 22
    Food generally; fare, especially of the hard bread or breadlike kind. countable, uncountable

    "Near-synonyms: biscuit, bread"

  18. 23
    That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix. countable, uncountable

    "Some tacks had been made to money bills in King Charles's time."

  19. 24
    Confidence; reliance. countable, obsolete, uncountable

    "He should find[…]that there was tack in it, that it was solid silver, or silver that had strength in it."

Verb
  1. 1
    To nail (something) with a tack (small nail with a flat head). transitive
  2. 2
    reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action) wordnet
  3. 3
    To sew/stitch with a tack (loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth).
  4. 4
    fix to; attach wordnet
  5. 5
    To weld with initial small welds to temporarily fasten in preparation for full welding.
Show 9 more definitions
  1. 6
    sew together loosely, with large stitches wordnet
  2. 7
    To maneuver a sailing vessel so that its bow turns through the wind, i.e. the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other.
  3. 8
    fasten with tacks wordnet
  4. 9
    To sail to windward using a series of alternate tacks across the wind. intransitive
  5. 10
    create by putting components or members together wordnet
  6. 11
    To add something as an extra item.

    "to tack (something) onto (something)"

  7. 12
    turn into the wind wordnet
  8. 13
    Synonym of tack up (“to prepare a horse for riding by equipping it with a tack”).
  9. 14
    To join in wedlock. obsolete, slang

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English tak, takke (“hook; staple; nail”), from Old Northern French taque (“nail, pin, peg”), from Frankish *takkō, from Proto-Germanic *takkô (“tip; point; protrusion; prong; tine; jag; spike; twig”), of unknown origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dHgʰ-n-, from the root *déHgʰ- (“to pinch; to tear, rip, fray”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Takke (“bough; branch; twig”), West Frisian takke (“branch”), tûk (“branch, smart, sharp”), Dutch tak (“twig; branch; limb”), German Zacke (“jag; prong; spike; tooth; peak”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English takken (“to attach; nail”), from the noun (see above).

Etymology 3

From an old or dialectal form of French tache. See techy. Doublet of tache.

Etymology 4

Back-formation from tacky.

Etymology 5

From Middle English tak, take (“fee, tax (on livestock)”), from Old Norse tak, taka (“a taking, seizure; revenue”), from Old Norse taka (“to take”). Cognate with Scots tack.

See also for "tack"

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