Word.ws English Dictionary

close-hauled

close-hauled adjective: with the sails trimmed as close to the wind as possible with all sails full and not shivering.

Adjective

close-hauled (not comparable)

  1. with the sails trimmed as close to the wind as possible with all sails full and not shivering
    Synonyms:
    on a bowline

Adverb

close-hauled (not comparable)

  1. with the sails close-hauled

Synonyms of close-hauled

  • on a bowline

Forms of close-hauled

alternative formclosehauled

Questions about close-hauled

What does close-hauled mean?
Close-hauled means with the sails trimmed as close to the wind as possible with all sails full and not shivering.
What part of speech is close-hauled?
Close-hauled can be an adjective or an adverb.

Words near close-hauled in the dictionary

  1. close-fitting
  2. close-grained
  3. close-grainedness
  4. close-handed
  5. close-handedness
  6. close-hauled
  7. close-knit
  8. close-mid
  9. close-minded
  10. close-mindedly
  11. close-mindedness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: close-hauled (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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