tacks

Noun

tack (countable and uncountable, plural tacks)

1. A small nail with a flat head.
   • A tough test for even the strongest climber, it was new to the Tour de France this year, but its debut will be remembered for the wrong reasons after one of those spectators scattered carpet tacks on the road and induced around 30 punctures among the group of riders including Bradley Wiggins, the...2012 July 15, Richard Williams, “Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot put Bradley Wiggins off track”, in The Guardian
2. A thumbtack.
3. A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.
4. The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.
5. A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind.
6. (figuratively) A direction or course of action, especially a new one; a method or approach to solving a problem.
   • So stoutly held to tack by those near North-wales men;1612, Michael Drayton, chapter 11, in [John Selden], editor, Poly-Olbion. Or A Chorographicall Description of Tracts, Riuers, Mountaines, Forests, and Other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great...

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