short-tack

verb

To tack several times in rapid succession when sailing upwind in a narrow waterway.

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Meanings

verbshort-tack (third-person singular simple present short-tacks, present participle short-tacking, simple past and past participle short-tacked)

present singular third person short-tacks · participle present short-tacking · participle past short-tacked · past short-tacked

  1. nauticalTo tack several times in rapid succession when sailing upwind in a narrow waterway.

    I started short-tacking every hour down the coast, heading further offshore, as I knew I'd find better wind there.

    2010, Mike Perham, Sailing the Dream, page 143
Cite this entry
APA

short-tack. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short-tack

MLA

“short-tack.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short-tack. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “short-tack,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/short-tack.

Source: short-tack on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.