What does "tack" mean?
A small nail with a flat head.
Tack
/tæk/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A small nail with a flat head.
- Grammar: tack is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: aberrancy, aberration, about ship, adapt.
- Useful contrasts: carelessness, detach, downwind.
- Usage evidence: Why don't you try a different tack?
How to use "tack"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "tack" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "tack" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "tack" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "tack" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "tack" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "aberrancy" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "tack", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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 A stain; a tache.
- 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 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 sailing a zigzag course wordnet
Show 19 more definitions
- 6 A thumbtack. countable, uncountable
- 7 A peculiar flavour or taint. obsolete
"a musty tack"
- 8 (nautical) the act of changing tack wordnet
- 9 A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth. countable, uncountable
- 10 (nautical) a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind wordnet
- 11 The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind. countable, uncountable
- 12 gear for a horse wordnet
- 13 A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind. countable, uncountable
- 14 a short nail with a sharp point and a large head wordnet
- 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;"
- 16 the heading or position of a vessel relative to the trim of its sails wordnet
- 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
- 18 The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board. countable, uncountable
- 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
- 20 Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. countable, uncountable
- 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."
- 22 Food generally; fare, especially of the hard bread or breadlike kind. countable, uncountable
"Near-synonyms: biscuit, bread"
- 23 That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix. countable, uncountable
"Some tacks had been made to money bills in King Charles's time."
- 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 To nail (something) with a tack (small nail with a flat head). transitive
- 2 reverse (a direction, attitude, or course of action) wordnet
- 3 To sew/stitch with a tack (loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth).
- 4 fix to; attach wordnet
- 5 To weld with initial small welds to temporarily fasten in preparation for full welding.
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 sew together loosely, with large stitches wordnet
- 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.
- 8 fasten with tacks wordnet
- 9 To sail to windward using a series of alternate tacks across the wind. intransitive
- 10 create by putting components or members together wordnet
- 11 To add something as an extra item.
"to tack (something) onto (something)"
- 12 turn into the wind wordnet
- 13 Synonym of tack up (“to prepare a horse for riding by equipping it with a tack”).
- 14 To join in wedlock. obsolete, slang
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"Why don't you try a different tack?"
Common questions
What is a synonym for "tack"?
Common synonyms include: aberrancy, aberration, about ship, adapt, add, adjust.
How do you use "tack" in a sentence?
Why don't you try a different tack?
How do you pronounce "tack"?
Pronounced /tæk/.
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.