society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > reduce sail by reefing > in specific way (3)
transitive. To reduce the spread of (a sail) by taking in two reefs.
To reef closely, to take in all the reefs of (a sail or ship); originally and chiefly in past participle ˈclose-reefed adj.
Nautical. To reef with a balance-reef, so as to steady the ship in bad weather: see balance, n.1 7. Perhaps originally ballast.