mainyard
nounEtymology From main + yard.
- The sails were split, the mainyard shivered, the wind blowing fresh, the night setting in; and all our chance was to make for Corfu--or, as F. pathetically called it, 'a watery grave.'1880, John Nichol, Byron:
- A long line of red and white flags extends from the top of the mainyard to the helm and streamers flutter from the mastheads.1914, E.H. Aitken, Concerning Animals and Other Matters: