How to pronounce reef

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What reef means

verb

Most people know reef in its everyday sense. Here's its other meaning.

To roll up part of a sail to make it smaller in strong wind

In a sentence: The wind grew stronger, so the crew reefed the mainsail.

Where it comes from: It comes from an Old Norse word. It may be the same word that gave us the reef of rock, which meant rib.

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