reef

A long line of rocks or coral close to the surface of the sea.

• Fish live around the reef.
• Our boat nearly hit a hidden reef.
• Divers explored the coral reefs near the island.

Common phrases: coral reef, barrier reef, near the reef

A part of a sail folded and tied down to make the sail smaller in strong wind.

• We put a reef in the sail.
• The first reef made the boat easier to control.
• As the wind strengthened, they took another reef.

Common phrases: take a reef, first reef, deep reef

To fold and secure part of a sail so less of it catches the wind.

• We need to reef the sail.
• The crew reefed the mainsail before the storm.
• Have you reefed enough for this wind?

Similar words: shorten sail

Common phrases: reef the sail, reef the mainsail, reef early

To move a boat’s wheel paddles closer to the center so they enter the water less deeply.

• The engineer reefed the paddles.
• They reef the floats when the water is shallow.
• Can these wheel paddles be reefed further?

Common phrases: reef the paddles, reef the floats