reefed

comparative more reefed · superlative most reefed

1. nauticalHaving part of a sail tied up in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.

   The mainsail was "scandalised" - a nautical mode of describing a sail reefed at both ends[.]

   1887, Mrs. Dominic D. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 16

2. space flightaeronauticsSemi-deployed, with the canopy initially restricted from fully opening, in order to avoid subjecting the canopy to excessive air loads or the payload to excessive g-forces from fully deploying at high airspeed.

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of reef