Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Luff

Luff (lŭf), n. [OE. lof, prob. a sort of timber by which the course of a ship was directed, perh. a sort of paddle; cf. D. loef luff, loeven to luff. The word is perh. akin to E. glove. Cf. Aloof.] (Naut.) (a) The side of a ship toward the wind. (b) The act of sailing a ship close to the wind. (c) The roundest part of a ship's bow. (d) The forward or weather leech of a sail, especially of the jib, spanker, and other fore-and-aft sails.

Luff tackle, a purchase composed of a double and single block and fall, used for various purposes. Totten. — Luff upon luff, a luff tackle attached to the fall of another luff tackle. R. H. Dana, Jr.

Luff (lŭf), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Luffed; p. pr. & vb. n. Luffing.] (Naut.) To turn the head of a vessel toward the wind; to sail nearer the wind; to turn the tiller so as to make the vessel sail nearer the wind.

To luff round, or To luff alee, to make the extreme of this movement, for the purpose of throwing the ship's head into the wind.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.