Alternative forms

• riff (obsolete)

Noun

English Wikipedia has an article on:

reef

Wikipedia

reef (plural reefs)Category:English lemmas#REEFCategory:English nouns#REEFCategory:English countable nouns#REEFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#REEFCategory:Pages with entries#REEFCategory:Pages with 2 entries#REEF

1. A chain or range of rocks, sand, or coral lying at or near the surface of the water.
2. (AustraliaCategory:Australian English#REEF, South AfricaCategory:South African English#REEF) A large vein of auriferous quartz; hence, any body of rock yielding valuable ore.

Noun

reef (plural reefs)Category:English lemmas#REEFCategory:English nouns#REEFCategory:English countable nouns#REEFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#REEFCategory:Pages with entries#REEFCategory:Pages with 2 entries#REEF

1. (nauticalCategory:en:Nautical#REEF) A portion of a sail rolled and tied down to lessen the area exposed in a high wind.
   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbj&oslash￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 49:

     They sailed as if they were stark mad; they never took in a reef in the sail, and when the seas filled the boat, they sailed her up on the back of a wave till she stood nearly on end, the water rushing out over her stern as out of a spout.

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

2. A reef knot.

Verb

reef (third-person singular simple present reefs, present participle reefing, simple past and past participle reefed)Category:English lemmas#REEFCategory:English verbs#REEFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#REEFCategory:Pages with entries#REEFCategory:Pages with 2 entries#REEF

1. (nauticalCategory:en:Nautical#REEF) To take in part of a sail in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.
   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbj&oslash￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 188:

     "When the day arrived that the boy was to be skipper, the weather was calm and fine, but he called all men to reef sails, so the ship had scarcely any sail on her."

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

   • 1970 July–December, Margaret Quilty, Roller Reefing Made Easy, Boating, page 63,

     Be sure the blocks are securely mounted—they carry a fairish load when the sail is reefed.

     If both reefing line and main halyard are led to the cockpit, even singlehanded reefing is a breeze.

   • 1995, David Seidman, The Complete Sailor: Learning the Art of Sailing, page 104:

     Mains are made smaller by reefing. This can be done by rolling up the sail around the boom, or by the more traditional method of tying down a panel along the foot.

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

   • 2004, Charlie Wing, How Boat Things Work, page 108:

     The reefing system for a mainsail must be designed to operate efficiently under adverse conditions and to provide proper sail shape when reefed.

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

2. (AustraliaCategory:Australian English#REEF) To pull or yank strongly, especially in relation to horse riding.
   • 1986, Jan Wositzky, Me and Phar Lap: The Remarkable Life of Tommy Woodcock, published 2011, page 49:

     And when the Cup came on he stirred them up ′round the barrier and he flew out of the barrier and he pulled and reefed and pulled and reefed and Lewis didn′t let him settle down until about three furlongs from home and when he did settle the horse was all out of stride and he went back through the field a fair bit.

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

   • 1994, Herb Wharton, Cattle Camp: Murrie Drovers and Their Stories, published 2010, page 73:

     Alf told me that one young white stockman, eager to impress the girls, went outside and mounted his horse, then began showing off his prowess, racing past the pub, wheeling and reefing his horse up and down the street, yackeyeing and whooping, flogging his horse with a battered old hat and always turning towards the pub to see if the girls were watching these feats of horsemanship.

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

   • 2002, Alex Miller, Journey to the Stone Country, Allen & Unwin, published 2003, page 76:

     He reefed on the handbrake and sat smoking his cigarette, gazing out through the windscreen at the driveway.

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

   • 2007, Marion Houldsworth, Maybe It′ll Rain Tomorrow, published 2012, page 104:

     […] head stockman would say ‘Cut one out but take him at a walk.′ And if you could get that beast out without reefing your horse around, the head stockman – he′d be a pretty cluey old coot - he′s watching that horse′s ears more than what you were doing.

     Category:English terms with quotations#REEF

3. (nauticalCategory:en:Nautical#REEF, of paddles) To move the floats of a paddle wheel toward its center so that they will not dip so deeply.

   Reef the paddles.Category:English terms with usage examples#REEF

4. (slangCategory:English slang#REEF) To manipulate the lining of a person's pocket in order to steal the contents unnoticed.
   • Myron M. Stearns, So You Lost Your Pocketbook?, in 1940, The Rotarian (volume 56, number 2, page 39)

     This was done by "reefing." He put two fingers just inside the opening and lifted the lining a trifle. Although I watched his hands, I could feel nothing, so gently did his fingers work. Reefing a couple of times, he lifted my handkerchief, as he might have taken out anything else.

Alternative forms

• reif, rief (Scotland)

Adjective

reef (comparative reefer or more reef, superlative reefest or most reef)Category:English lemmas#REEFCategory:English adjectives#REEFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#REEFCategory:Pages with entries#REEFCategory:Pages with 2 entries#REEF

1. Scabby; scurvy.

Noun

reef (plural reefs)Category:English lemmas#REEFCategory:English nouns#REEFCategory:English countable nouns#REEFCategory:English entries with incorrect language header#REEFCategory:Pages with entries#REEFCategory:Pages with 2 entries#REEF

1. (Now chiefly dialectalCategory:English dialectal terms#REEF) The itch; any eruptive skin disorder.
2. (Now chiefly dialectalCategory:English dialectal terms#REEF) Dandruff.

Noun

reef f (plural reven, diminutive reefje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#REEFCategory:Dutch nouns#REEFCategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -en#REEFCategory:Dutch nouns with red links in their headword lines#REEFCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#REEFCategory:Dutch feminine nouns#REEFCategory:Pages with entries#REEFCategory:Pages with 2 entries#REEF

1. line drawn on the ground, furrow

Noun

reef n (plural reven, diminutive reefje n)Category:Dutch lemmas#REEFCategory:Dutch nouns#REEFCategory:Dutch nouns with plural in -en#REEFCategory:Dutch nouns with red links in their headword lines#REEFCategory:Dutch entries with incorrect language header#REEFCategory:Dutch neuter nouns#REEFCategory:Pages with entries#REEFCategory:Pages with 2 entries#REEF

1. alternative form of reefCategory:Forms linking to themselves#REEF (shallows; strip of sail)