raffee

R1A1F4F4E1E1

noun

A triangular topsail set high on the mast of a sailing ship.

Scrabble 12
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Meanings

nounraffee (plural raffees)

plural raffees

  1. nauticalA triangular topsail set high on the mast of a sailing ship.

    A novelty in her rig is a double raffee on 'her foremast. The Commodore had it set yesterday stretching.

    1905 May 1, “Emperor William Cables Greetings”, in The New York Times
    2 more examples

    I created a raffee topsail with a parrel at the base of my forestay and thus about doubled the little boat’s sail area.

    2014, Kent Mountford, Silent Maid, page 208

    The Dennis Sullivan carried a raffee topsail. This uncommon sail today was common on Great Lakes schooners.

    2020, Greg Grundtisch, “Tall Ships in Buffalo”, in Messing About in Boats, volume 37, page 4

Origin

Lexicographers traced this term back to the mid-1850s, first used in the United Kingdom.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

affeer
Cite this entry
APA

raffee. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raffee

MLA

“raffee.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raffee. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “raffee,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/raffee.

Source: raffee on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.