Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Tackle

Tac′kle (?; sometimes improperly pronounced ?, especially by seamen), n. [OE. takel, akin to LG. & D. takel, Dan. takkel, Sw. tackel; perhaps akin to E. taw, v.t., or to take.] 1. Apparatus for raising or lowering heavy weights, consisting of a rope and pulley blocks; sometimes, the rope and attachments, as distinct from the block.

2. Any instruments of action; an apparatus by which an object is moved or operated; gear; as, fishing tackle, hunting tackle; formerly, specifically, weapons. "She to her tackle fell." Hudibras.

☞ In Chaucer, it denotes usually an arrow or arrows.

3. (Naut.) The rigging and apparatus of a ship; also, any purchase where more than one block is used.

Fall and tackle. See the Note under Pulley. — Fishing tackle. See under Fishing, a. — Ground tackle (Naut.), anchors, cables, etc. — Gun tackle, the apparatus or appliances for hauling cannon in or out. — Tackle fall, the rope, or rather the end of the rope, of a tackle, to which the power is applied. — Tack tackle (Naut.), a small tackle to pull down the tacks of the principal sails. — Tackle board, Tackle post (Ropemaking), a board, frame, or post, at the end of a ropewalk, for supporting the spindels, or whirls, for twisting the yarns.

Tac′kle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Tackled; p. pr. & vb. n. Tackling.] [Cf. LG. takeln to equip. See Tackle, n.] 1. To supply with tackle. Beau. & Fl.

2. To fasten or attach, as with a tackle; to harness; as, to tackle a horse into a coach or wagon. [Colloq.]

3. To seize; to lay hold of; to grapple; as, a wrestler tackles his antagonist; a dog tackles the game.

The greatest poetess of our day has wasted her time and strength in tackling windmills under conditions the most fitted to insure her defeat. Dublin Univ. Mag.

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. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.