reefn.1
/riːf/, U.S. /rif/α. Middle English rif, Middle English riffe, Middle English ryffe, Middle English ryue, Middle English 1600s–1700s riff.
β. 1500s refe, 1600s– reef.
γ. 1500s ryft.
Chiefly Nautical.
1.
a. A section of a sail, frequently each of three or four bands or strips, which can be taken in or rolled up to reduce the area exposed to the wind. Frequently in to take in a reef (similarly to let out a reef, etc.).Recorded earliest in reef rope n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > [noun] > reducing extent of sail > a reef
reef1336
strake1399
deadman1825
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > portion which may be reefed
reef1336
balance-reef1782
bag-reef1867
α.
β. ?1518 Cocke Lorelles Bote sig. C.j Some ye longe bote dyde launce..Mayne corse toke in a refe byforce.1661 T. Allin Jrnl. 11 May (1939) (modernized text) I. 36 We took in our reefs.1684 London Gaz. No. 1933/4 Her Main-Sail a Lug Sail with four Reefs at the bottom, and her Fore-Sail three aloft.1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant 115 Reeves to take up part of the Sail as the Wind rises.1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck ii. 25 The folding reefs, in plaits inroll'd, they lay.1807 G. Crabbe Parish Reg. i, in Poems 47 When Tempests plough the Deep, We take a Reef, and to the rocking, Sleep.1848 J. F. Cooper Jack Tier I. vii. 195 As the breeze was fresh,..he determined not to let out the reef.1862 London Rev. & Weekly Jrnl. 16 Aug. 139 When the morning breaks we [yachtsmen] are beating into Weymouth with two reefs down.1939 ‘N. Shute’ Ordeal vi. 202 Come and take her for a bit; I'll get a reef down before dark.1941 N. M. Gunn Silver Darlings xiv. 289 The rain had drawn the sting out of it, and even if, outside, they might have to take a reef in, they could not wish for it in a better airt.1984 Pract. Boat Owner Feb. 54/1 Our mainsail has two deep reefs in it.2001 Times (Nexis) 5 Feb. Then I see she's only at 9 knots, so I get up again, take the reef out.1336–7 Naval Acct. in B. Sandahl Middle Eng. Sea Terms (1958) II. 92 Et in viij petris cord' de canabo petra cont' ut supra emptis apud lenn pro viij Rifropes inde faciend' precium cuiuslibet petre cum factura inde xij d. viij s.
a1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis (Fairf.) viii. 1983 (MED) The wynd was good, the See was plein, Hem nedeth noght a Riff to slake Til thei Pentapolim have take.
a1450 (?c1405) in J. Kail 26 Polit. Poems (1904) 28 (MED) Thy wynd is layd, þou mayst not sayle, þouȝ þou lete out bonet and ryue.
1685 B. Ringrose Bucaniers Amer. iv. 76 We were forced to sail with two riffs in our main-top sail, and one also in our fore-top sail.
1708 W. Sewel Large Dict. Eng. & Dutch 405/1 Reef, a Riff in the sail.
b. The action or an act of reefing a sail; (also) a particular method of reefing. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > [noun] > reducing extent of sail
reef1704
reefing1740
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > [noun] > reducing extent of sail > mode of
reef1704
1704 J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. (at cited word) This contracting or taking up the Sail, they call a Reef or Reefing the Sail.
1829 F. Marryat Naval Officer I. v. 158 We tried a Spanish reef; that is, let the yards come down on the cap.
1890 Cent. Dict. at Reef2 French reef, reefing of sails when they are fitted with rope jackstays instead of points.
1952 ‘C. S. Forester’ Lieutenant Hornblower ii. 12 Go and tell the captain that I think another reef is necessary.
2.
a. figurative and in extended use (chiefly in to take in (or let out) a reef). Now rare.In quot. a1547 as part of an extended metaphor.
ΚΠ
a1547 Earl of Surrey Poems (1964) 34 And so wisely, when lucky gale of winde All thy puft sailes shall fil, loke well about, Take in a ryft.
1710 C. Mather Theopolis Americana 25 They won't take in a Reef of their Sails, tho' they are on the point of Suffering Ship-wreck.
1778 F. G. Waldron Maid of Kent v. 86 Don't sink your friends and your foes together, but take in a reef a two and we'll be alongside you presently.
1798 R. B. Sheridan Let. (1966) II. 88 When we owe nothing we will talk of a more careless course and letting out a Reef or two.
1846 ‘Lord Chief Baron’ Swell's Night Guide (new ed.) 48 Ruttum turned out a quid as big as a moke's egg, took a reef in his patter trap.
1876 H. James Roderick Hudson iii. 93 Here and there, doubtless, as he went, he took in a reef in his sail.
1924 E. Pound Let. 3 Dec. (1971) 190 Am also letting out another reef in my long job. Installment of which should soon be inspectable.
1986 K. Gänzl Brit. Musical Theatre II. 364 Those who had hastened to compare Herbert with W. S. Gilbert after Tantivy Towers were obliged to take a reef in their enthusiasm.
b. spec. With reference to drawing in or releasing a fold or tuck in a garment, tightening or loosening a belt, etc.
ΚΠ
1840 Metrop. Mag. July 348 I..shook the reefs out of my waistcoat to do honour to the noble lord's fare.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Adventures Huckleberry Finn xxxi. 267 I lit out, and shook the reefs out of my hind legs.
1885 Spectator 30 May 715/1 He is wasting away, and is obliged to take in reefs in his waistcoat.
1903 E. Œ. Somerville & ‘M. Ross’ All on Irish Shore 2 ‘I dunno, Master Freddy; it might be 'twas a hare,’ returned Patsey, taking in a hurried reef in the strap that was responsible for the support of his trousers.
1927 Bridgeport (Connecticut) Telegram 12 Dec. 12/3 No private soldier could possibly eat the ration..without letting out a reef in his pants every day or so.
1942 C. E. Planck Women with Wings xx. 277 Take a reef in your safety belt so you won't fall right out over the nose, and shove the stick forward some more.
1981 R. Davies Rebel Angels (1983) vi. 120 I'm handy with the needle; I can take a reef or two in this.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
reef cringle n.
ΚΠ
1726 Four Years Voy. Capt. G. Roberts 132 Wherefore I lashed the upper Reef Cringle down to the Boom.
1834 C. Martelli Naval Officer's Guide 279 Hook the lower blocks of the yard ropes or burtons to the first reef cringle.
1990 T. Cunliffe Easy on Helm iv. 31 (in figure) Ease halyard, hook on tack reef cringle, set up halyard again.
reef earing n.
ΚΠ
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 210 One end comes down and makes fast to the upper reef-earing.
1841 R. H. Dana Seaman's Man. Fasten the head and reef earings to their cringles.
1988 R. Henderson Singlehanded Sailing (ed. 2) v. 131 Opinions are mixed on the merits of leading halyards aft to the cockpit... Certainly the main halyard and reef earings should be at the same location.
C2. † reef hank n. Obsolete = reefpoint n.† reef-jig n. Obsolete a small tackle used in reefing (see quot. 1891).† reef-jigger n. Obsolete rare = reef-jig n.
reef band n. a band of canvas running across a sail and having holes or eyes through which reefpoints can be fastened.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > material of sails > piece of canvas strengthening sail > at reefing points
reef band1664
1664 T. Allin Jrnl. 19 Dec. (1939) (modernized text) I. 192 Our fore topsail..split at the reef band.
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 98 The upper reef-band is at one-sixth of the depth of the sail from the head, and the lower reef-band is at the same distance from the upper one.
1920 Mariner's Mirror 6 81 Double reefpoints in two rows and apparently sewn into reef-bands are represented in the upper half of the sail.
1998 W. Rodarmor tr. B. Moitessier Sea Vagabond's World 88 My jib always has a reef band; it's much less expensive than a heavy-weather jib.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > ropes for shortening sail > reefing lines
reef line1711
reef tackle1711
point1769
reefpoint1769
spilling-line1769
reef hank1794
reefing point1847
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 88 Reef-hanks, short pieces of log-line, or other small line, sewed at certain distances on the reefs of boom-sails.
1869 C. Burney Boy's Man. Seamanship & Gunnery 88 Having reef bands of one-quarter breadth and strengthening bands of one-third breadth, the former to take the reef hanks, and the latter at equal distances between the upper reef and the throat of the sail.
ΚΠ
1854 C. Swinscoe Jrnl. 1 Apr. in Proc. Mass. Hist. Soc. (1932) 65 6 While reefing fore topsail the reef jig got foul. Mate sent Boy Bill to clear it.
1891 Cent. Dict. 5029/2 Reef-jig, a small tackle sometimes used in reefing to stretch the reef-band taut before knotting the points. [Also in later dictionaries.]
ΚΠ
1891 Cent. Dict. 5029/2 Reef-jigger, a small tackle sometimes used in reefing to stretch the reef-band taut before knotting the points.
reef line n. = reefpoint n.; (also more generally) a rope used in reefing a sail.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > ropes for shortening sail > reefing lines
reef line1711
reef tackle1711
point1769
reefpoint1769
spilling-line1769
reef hank1794
reefing point1847
1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant v. 150 Rope-bands and Ear-rings, as big as the Reef-lines, and ½ longer, put together.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine H h iv The courses of large ships are either reefed with points or small cords, which are thence called reef-lines... The line is passed spirally through the eyelet-holes of the reef, and over the head of the sail alternately, and..strained..tight.
1882 G. S. Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 124 In reefing, the end of the becket is passed under the reef line.
1998 Post & Courier (Charleston, S. Carolina) (Nexis) 10 Nov. c2 Conditions eased enough for me to run a new reef line through the boom.
reef pendant n. each of the short ropes used to secure the clew of a sail to the boom prior to reefing.
ΚΠ
1794 D. Steel Elements & Pract. Rigging & Seamanship I. 36 Without the sheet there are holes bored through for the reef-pendants.
1886 J. M. Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 3 Secure..reef-pendant to boom with a racking or rolling hitch.
1997 J. Campbell In Darwin's Wake ix. 100 There was nothing to hold the boom up until we got the reef pendant tight.
reefpoint n. each of the several short pieces of rope fixed in a line across a sail, and serving to secure it when reefed.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > ropes for shortening sail > reefing lines
reef line1711
reef tackle1711
point1769
reefpoint1769
spilling-line1769
reef hank1794
reefing point1847
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Garcettes de ris The reef-points of a sail.
1805 R. Southey Madoc i. iv. 42 The reef-points rattled on the shivering sail.
1936 Amer. Home Feb. 49/2 Strips of real canvas hanging from cleats in the ceiling, with reefpoints dangling, carry the illusion of sails towering overhead.
1990 Small Boat Jrnl. Jan. 12/2 A mainsail devoid of reefpoints stretches from the truck of a sharply raked 40-foot mast.
reef rope n. now rare a rope used in tying down a reef; (formerly also) †a rope used in lacing on a detachable portion of a sail (obsolete).
ΚΠ
1336-7Rifropes [see sense 1aα. ].
1358–64 Naval Acct. in B. Sandahl Middle Eng. Sea Terms (1958) II. 92 j haus' pro j Ryfferop' pro bonetto, eiusdem nauis ponder' lxxv lb. et iij cord' pro j vptiegh..et j rifferop' pro velo eiusdem bat' pond' xxxviij lb.
1763 Gentleman's Mag. June 368/2 John Blane was committed to Newgate for..beating him on the naked back with a reef rope, that he instantly expired.
1797 R. Parker Mem. 8 At the moment he was springing off, the fatal bow-gun fired, and the reef-rope catching him, run him up..to the yard-arm!
1840 Morning Chron. 12 May 7/1 These men were casting off reef ropes, and by accident catched them on the foot rope of the yard, and tore the reef point off.
1900 Boston Daily Globe 1 Oct. 6/3 He never studied a reef rope sufficient to know that it was on a boat for business.
reef tackle n. a tackle used to hoist the outer edge of a sail up to the yard in reefing; frequently attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > rigging > [noun] > running rigging > ropes for shortening sail > reefing lines
reef line1711
reef tackle1711
point1769
reefpoint1769
spilling-line1769
reef hank1794
reefing point1847
1711 W. Sutherland Ship-builders Assistant v. 146 Hallyards, as big as the Reef-tackle Fall.
1764 W. Falconer Shipwreck (new ed.) ii. 46 (note) Reef-tackles are ropes which run through holes at each top-sail-yard-end.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast v. 10 We had got..the topsail reef-tackles hauled out.
1952 ‘C. S. Forester’ Lieutenant Hornblower ii. 13 Halliards and reef tackles were manned.
1984 Washington Post (Nexis) 12 Nov. c2 There's a reef point caught in the reef tackle block, sir.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
reefn.2
/riːf/, U.S. /rif/α. 1500s ryffe, 1500s–1600s riffe, 1500s–1700s riff.
β. 1600s reefe, 1600s– reef, 1800s reeff (Australian).
1.
a. A ridge or bank of rock, sand, shingle, etc., lying just above or just below the surface of the sea or another body of water, usually in such a way as to pose a hazard to shipping. In later use frequently spec.: a ridge of this kind formed of coral.barrier reef, coral reef, fringing reef, sand-reef, etc.: see the first element.
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the world > the earth > land > land mass > reef > [noun]
skelly1513
reef1579
rockray1582
head1584
skerry1612
key1693
ridge1695
cay1707
α.
β. 1625 S. Purchas Pilgrimes III. xv. 579 We..past ouer a Reefe, and found on it fiue and a halfe, sixe, sixe and a halfe, and seuen fathoms water.1748 B. Robins & R. Walter Voy. round World by Anson ii. iv. 157 There is also a reef of rocks running off the eastern point of the Island.1770 J. Cook Jrnls. 23 Aug. (1955) I. 394 Cockles and Clams of Several sorts, many of these that are found upon the Reefs are of a Prodigious size.1805 J. Turnbull Voy. World (1813) 391 The ship..struck upon a reef of rocks.., and shortly became a total wreck.1864 Ld. Tennyson Enoch Arden in Enoch Arden, etc. 32 The league-long roller thundering on the reef.1884 Law Rep.: Appeal Cases 9 177 A reef of shingle which extends to the right bank of the river.1914 Bull. Amer. Mus. Nat. Hist. 33 237 Cryptozoön belongs to a group of Algae which formed vast reefs in the Ozarkian oceans.1933 D. Thomas Let. Dec. (1987) 62 When the tide comes in, the reef of needle rocks that leads on to the base of the Worm, is covered under the water.1962 A. S. Laughton in G. E. R. Deacon Seas, Maps, & Men 190 It is in these shallow regions..that sailors of old had to plumb the depth of the bottom to avoid running their ships onto sandbanks, jagged rocks, and reefs.2005 Independent 19 Feb. (Travel section) 4/2 Divers and snorkellers encounter a vast range of marine life on the reefs.1579 [implied in: E. Hake Newes out of Powles Churchyarde newly Renued viii. sig. Gvii The ryffie rock doth lye in wayte my beaten barke to maime. (at reefy adj.1)].
1584 R. Norman tr. C. Antoniszoon Safegard of Sailers f. 15 From the northwest corner of Burckum, doth lie a riff [Du. Rif] of sand.
1598 W. Phillip tr. J. H. van Linschoten Disc. Voy. E. & W. Indies iii. xxx. 364/2 From the aforesaid point of land, in the same course,..lyeth a Ryffe of sand, wherevpon the water breaketh.
?c1663 B. Whitelocke Diary (1990) 300 Wh[itelocke's] ship..made foule water passing over the Riffe near Jutland in Denmarke.
1695 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 19 35 The Riff or Ridge..descending a little towards the Eastward.
1742 Richardson De Foe's Tour Great Brit. (ed. 3) I. 297 Though Portland stands a League from the main Land of Britain, yet it is almost join'd by a prodigious Riff of Beach, that is to say, of small Stones cast up by the Sea.
b. figurative. Something which causes a principle, proposal, etc., to founder; a hidden obstacle or hazard.Frequently as part of an extended metaphor.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > danger > [noun] > instance or cause of
stone-rochec1200
perilc1300
doubta1400
Charybdisc1400
rocka1475
hazard1524
dangera1538
shelve1582
reef1841
kettle-de-benders1872
ankle-breaker1899
danger-spot1905
banana skin1907
1841 T. Miller Poems 66 Memory's the breeze that..ever drives us on some homeward shoal, As if she loved the melancholy waves That, murmuring shoreward, break, over a reef of graves.
1896 Daily News 4 Nov. 7/1 On this reef the hypothesis..is shattered.
1923 E. E. Whiting President Coolidge i. 23 To chart a way which shall lead to permanently good results, to avoid the reefs and shallows of futile or pernicious legislation.
1939 Ethics 49 282 Most of the recognized viewpoints in ethics founder on the same reef.
2000 A. Karlen Biogr. of Germ (2001) xviii. 119 Someone proposed Muerto Canyon (Death Canyon), but that, too, struck the reef of local opinion.
2. Mining (originally Australian).
a. A lode or vein of quartz, esp. one which yields gold. Also: (chiefly South African) a bed or stratum, typically of conglomerate, within which gold- or diamond-bearing material is or may be enclosed.saddle reef: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > [noun] > vein > vein of ore > of specific ore
primgap1653
lead-veina1728
reef1852
1852 F. Lancelott Austral. as it Is II. x. 264 A long reef of quartz often stands out a considerable distance from the other easier decomposed masses.
1872 C. A. Payton Diamond Diggings 25 There is a reef of rock and shale running round nearly all the rich tracts of ground.
1895 H. P. Woodward Mining Handbk. W. Austral. 177 Buck, a name given to large quartz reefs in which there is no gold.
1923 B. Ronan Forty S. Afr. Years 69 A company called, I think, the White Horse Syndicate..had discovered a reef, suspected of being gold-bearing.
1939 C. W. Towne Her Majesty Montana 114 Even before the end of placer mining, Butte prospectors had located quartz on a black-stained reef.
1959 L. Longmore Dispossessed 13 In an eighty-mile-long belt stretching east and west of Johannesburg lie the conglomerate ‘reefs’ of the Witwatersrand geological system.
2006 Canberra Times (Nexis) 21 Sept. a4 Menzies and his partner were then followed back by a mob of 100-odd men, who rushed the reef, smashing the quartz and taking the gold.
b. In later use chiefly South African. Unproductive bedrock surrounding gold- or diamond-bearing materials; gangue, matrix. Cf. mullock n. 2a.floating reef: see the first element.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > [noun] > bedrock
shelf1671
stone-head1708
rock1719
rock bed1794
rock-bottom1797
rock-head1820
bed-rock1850
reef1869
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral sources > [noun] > source rock > non-source
mullock1855
reef1869
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral deposits > features of stratum or vein > [noun] > bed rock
shelf1671
reef1869
1869 R. B. Smyth Gold Fields Victoria Gloss. s.v. The reef is composed of slate, sandstone, or mudstone. The bed-rock anywhere is usually called the reef.
1893 T. Reunert Diamonds & Gold S. Afr. i. 21 The surface shales and basalt surrounding the pipes are called ‘Reef’.
1910 Encycl. Brit. VIII. 161/1 In a very few years, however, the open pit mining [at Kimberley] was rendered impossible..by the falls of the masses of barren rock known as ‘reef’, which were left standing in the mine.
1970 W. Smith Gold Mine xvi. 44 Free gold..rapidly worked its way down..its journey accelerated by the vibration of the conveyor and bin as mine reef was dropped.
c. South African. With capital initial (usually with the). The Witwatersrand, a notable gold-mining area in and around Johannesburg, Gauteng province (formerly the southern Transvaal). Cf. rand n.2 2.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > named regions of earth > Africa > [noun] > parts of South Africa
Transkei1852
Strandveld1875
lowveld1878
Middleveld1878
rand1890
reef1903
backveld1905
platteland1917
south-west1928
the world > the earth > minerals > mineral sources > [noun] > tract of land > specific
Gold Coast1625
Pottery Coalfield1811
rand1839
golden mile1899
reef1903
1903 Times 12 Sept. 6/6 Mining is practically the only industry in the Transvaal... At present it takes 2½ million pounds sterling per month to feed, clothe, and house the inhabitants along the Reef.
1905 L. Phillips Transvaal Probl. ii. 49 Meetings took place along the Reef from Boksburg to Krugersdorp.
1938 N. Devitt Spell of S. Afr. 185 At a military court held in a certain Reef town, a civilian was charged with murder.
1975 ‘D. Jordan’ Black Acct. xvii. 89 One of the houses with the Reef's pre-war style of flat roofs and enormous bay windows.
2000 Weekly Mail & Guardian (Johannesburg) (Electronic ed.) 14 July He was..a moegoe since he was not only from outside Jo'burg or the Reef but from a different province.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [noun] > member of > specific types > spongia officinalis (reef-sponge)
reef sponge1872
reef1883
1883 Great Internat. Fisheries Exhib. Catal. (ed. 2) 163 The principal varieties [of sponges], in the order of their value, are known as sheep-wool, white reef,..dark reef.
Compounds
C1. General attributive.
a. In sense 1, as reef-channel, reef-grounds, reef-rock, etc.
ΚΠ
1820 J. Keats Hyperion: a Fragm. ii, in Lamia & Other Poems 184 Sullen waves In the half-glutted hollows of reef-rocks.
1850 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Geol. ii. 40 The reef-grounds being in some parts twenty-five miles wide.
1872 J. D. Dana Corals & Coral Islands ii. 129 The cruiser in untried reef-regions.
1876 D. Page Adv. Text-bk. Geol. (ed. 6) iii. 68 The reef-mass formed by their aggregate labours.
1913 G. R. Agassiz Lett. & Recoll. Alexander Agassiz 374 The appearance of the old Tertiary ledge and of the modern reef rock is so strikingly different, that it was a comparatively simple matter to distinguish the two.
1969 Mem. Amer. Assoc. Petroleum Geol. 311 The reef-tract fauna was divided further into the main-reef, reef-margin, and reef-channel assemblages.
1999 Sunday Tel. (Nexis) 14 Feb. 15 We flew across the smooth water, turning cautiously in the darkness through the reef channel into the tiny harbour.
b. In sense 2, as reef gold, reef mining, reef share, etc.
ΚΠ
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Miner's Right I. ix. 231 An agency for the purchase of reef shares.
1896 African Critic 24 Oct. 546/2 The mine shows over two and a-half feet of reef matter.
1935 F. Clune Rolling down Lachlan 122 An old-timer told me that reef-mining started on the Mount in 1891.
1946 K. S. Prichard Roaring Nineties 374 Under the old Act the lessee acquired the reef gold: alluvial remained for the man with a miner's right.
1971 Daily Tel. 11 Oct. 17 A limited amount of reef development in the lower western portion of the mine yielded reasonable values.
C2. Objective and instrumental (in sense 1).
reef-building adj.
ΚΠ
1839 C. Darwin in R. Fitzroy & C. Darwin Narr. Surv. Voy. H.M.S. Adventure & Beagle III. xxii. 562 The remarkable absence of the reef-building polypi over certain wide areas within the tropical sea.
1997 Nature 17 July 7/3 Corals are symbioses between reef-building animals and phototrophic dinoflagellates.
reef-forming adj.
ΚΠ
1860 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 4 82 All the animals that made these great reef-forming corals were confined, when alive, to the comparatively slight depth of fifteen fathoms.
1991 R. S. K. Barnes & K. H. Mann Fund. Aquatic Ecol. (ed. 2) x. 204/2 Endodermal cells of almost all of the reef-forming, or hermatypic, corals contain large numbers of symbiotic unicellular algae.
reef-making adj.
ΚΠ
1847 Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc. 3 i. 63 The reef-making corals may be traced further south.
1855 J. Phillips Man. Geol. xvi. 491 The reef-making madrepores are seldom found below 100 feet.
1960 Jrnl. Paleontol. 34 875/1 Stringocephalus cf. sapiens occurs..with some solitary rugose corals, the tabulate coral Thamnopora and many reef-making stromatoporoids.
reef-strewn adj.
ΚΠ
1865 Jrnl. Royal Geogr. Soc. 35 233 The southernmost link of this chain is separated only by a narrow and reef-strewn channel from the main island.
1930 Geogr. Jrnl. 76 291 These notes..might be of assistance to a navigator intending to cruise in reef-strewn waters.
1994 D. Porter Frommer's Comprehensive Trav. Guide Portugal '94–'95 xvi. 356 This point looks to Baixo Islet across a reef-strewn channel constantly pounded by the sea.
C3.
reef bass n. (a) U.S. the red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus; (b) a mottled reddish-brown fish, Pseudogramma gregoryi (family Serranidae or Grammistidae), which frequents coral reefs in the west Atlantic and Caribbean.
ΚΠ
1879 G. B. Goode in S. A. Kilbourne Game Fishes U.S. 37/1 Sciænops ocellatus... In the Carolinas, Florida, and the Gulf, we meet with the names ‘Bass’, and its variations, ‘Spotted Bass’, ‘Red Bass’, ‘Sea Bass’, ‘Reef Bass’, and ‘Channel Bass’.
1935 L. S. Caine Game Fish of South 39 Sciaenops ocellatus. The larger fish assumes a reddish shade all over... Reef Bass.
1968 Chron.-Telegram (Elyria, Ohio) 14 June 12/2 The drum fish, also called reef bass, white perch..and grey bass, is reported to be a strong fighter.
1986 C. R. Robins & G. C. Ray Field Guide Atlantic Coast Fishes N. Amer. 146 Reef Bass Pseudogramma gregoryi... Body mottled, brownish, becoming more red toward the rear.
reef break n. Surfing a point on a reef at which waves break; the breaking of waves at such a point.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > water sports except racing > surfing > [noun] > types or parts of wave
pounder1927
dumper1933
take-off1935
greeny1940
beach break1954
beacher1956
big kahuna1959
greenback1959
close out1962
curl1962
shore break1962
shoulder1962
soup1962
tube1962
wall1962
face1963
peak1963
pipeline1963
set1963
reef break1965
surfable wave1965
point break1966
green room1968
slide1968
barrel1975
left-hander1980
A-frame1992
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > wave > foam or surf > [noun] > surf > breaking over rocks or reefs
breach1624
reef break1965
1965 Surfabout (Sydney) II. ix. 25 There is a reef break which occasionally produces good right slides.
1987 Sunday Express Mag. 23 Aug. 30/1 Sandy Beach is more complicated—it's a reef break with additional point breaks—which means the waves break in the shape of a herringbone.
1997 Boards Mar. 54/1 The reef break was indeed beginning to work with waves peeling perfectly, at quite a size, looking pretty darn good for a bit of down-the-line action.
reef-builder n. a marine organism (as a coral) which produces calcareous material that accumulates to form reefs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > [noun] > invertebrate > which builds reefs
reef-builder1852
1852 N. Amer. Rev. Apr. 304 The coral animals, and especially those which are the principal reef-builders, are rarely found alive at a depth greater than from twenty to thirty fathoms.
1911 Amer. Naturalist 45 442 A study of these algæ shows that, as at the present day, they play a by no means unimportant rôle as reef-builders.
2005 Frederick (Maryland) News-Post 23 Mar. b14/1 Elkhorn and staghorn coral..for the past 500,000 years have been the primary reef-builders for Florida and the Caribbean.
reef drive n. Mining a horizontal tunnel excavated alongside or through gold-bearing rock.
ΚΠ
1869 R. B. Smyth Gold Fields Victoria Gloss. 619 Reef-drive—A drive cut or constructed entirely through the bed rock,..or along the face of the reef, or partly in the reef.
1938 Times 29 July 25/2 The Fourth Level Main Reef Drive North from No.1 Shaft was advanced 405ft.
2001 N. Singh & A. J. McDonald in W. A. Hustrulid & R. L. Bullock Underground Mining Methods xviii. 182 A raise is developed conventionally in the centre of the ore body from which reef drives (strike gullies) are spaced 30m apart.
reef eel n. any of various eels, esp. moray eels (family Muraenidae), which frequent coral reefs.
ΚΠ
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II. at Reef1 n. Reef-eel, a murænoid eel, as Muræna tessellata.
1898 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 27 468 If you see the devil spirit there, a reef eel, called ia, you will be sure to die.
1939 C. Barrett Koonwarra 116 We heard the old story of a ferocious reef-eel about twenty feet in length, feared by the..fishermen.
1983 Toxicon 21 Suppl. 39 The reef eel survived a dose of 22mg/kg of olive sea snake venom.
reef fish n. any of numerous marine fishes which frequent coral reefs; spec. any of several small damselfishes of the genus Chromis (family Pomacentridae), found chiefly in the Caribbean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > miscellaneous type of
bluefish1622
parrotfish1656
emperor1666
blue hound-fish1672
green fish1743
reef fish1872
blue1885
flagtail1905
basslet1928
schoolmistress fish1929
1872 Earl of Pembroke & G. H. Kingsley South Sea Bubbles 62 The real principle for catching reef-fish is compression, not penetration, pinching the fish between the wires, not boring a hole in him.
1880 A. Günther Introd. Study of Fishes xix. 280 As the reef-building corals flourished chiefly north and east of those islands,..reef-fishes were excluded from the Pacific shores when the communications were destroyed by the upheaval of the land.
1916 Sci. Monthly Feb. 131 The base of each old coral-head is cavernated with intricate retreats which form the home of the reef fish—those living jewels of the tropical sea.
1986 C. R. Robins & G. C. Ray Field Guide Atlantic Coast Fishes N. Amer. 198 Purple Reeffish Chromis scotti... Entirely dark blue; vertical fins dark blue or blackish.
2004 D. Dalton Rough Guide Philippines 312 Most of the Philippines' 450 species of coral can be found here,..along with hundreds of species of smaller reef fishes such as angelfish, batfish, surgeonfish and jacks.
reef flat n. the horizontal upper surface of a coral reef, often exposed as a flattened eroded platform except at high tide.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > reef > [noun] > part
tailing1684
tail1762
reef flat1886
reef platform1899
1886 Trans. Royal Soc. Edinb. 32 557 I..came upon the coral rock exposed in flat surfaces resembling those of the ordinary reef-flat.
1931 J. S. Gardiner Coral Reefs & Atolls ii. 35 Such rock masses as are visible on the reef flat do not stand up above the high tide level.
1991 R. S. K. Barnes & K. H. Mann Fund. Aquatic Ecol. (ed. 2) xi. 223/1 Shallow water and frequent exposure to the air prevent the extensive growth of corals. A reef flat is formed, dominated by frondose algae and seagrasses.
reef goose n. U.S. regional rare the Canada goose, Branta canadensis.
ΚΠ
1888 G. Trumbull Names & Portraits Birds 1 Branta canadensis... At Morehead, North Carolina, Reef Goose.
1944 L. A. Hausman Illustr. Encycl. Amer. Birds 514 Goose, Reef—see Goose, Canada.
reef heron n. either of two herons of tropical and warm temperate coastal areas, Egretta sacra, of South-East Asia and Australasia, and E. gularis, found from West Africa to India, each occurring in slate-grey and white colour phases formerly mistaken for distinct species.
ΚΠ
1848 J. Gould Birds Austral. VI. Pl. 61 [The] White Reef Heron..presents so many points of similarity in size and in form to the H. jugularis, that I have long been of opinion that it is merely an albino variety of that species.
1936 T. C. Roughley Wonders Great Barrier Reef 213 Reef herons are..seen wading over the reef searching for the various forms of marine life on which they feed.
1976 Reader's Digest Compl. Bk. Austral. Birds 81 Reef herons occur in two forms—white, which is the more common in tropical areas, and dark or slate-blue, which is the more numerous in temperate regions.
2005 J. A. Kushlan & J. A. Hancock Herons iii. 24 [Habitat] specialists include the coastal species such as the Eastern Reef Heron and Reddish Egret.
reef knoll n. Geomorphology a hillock, generally of limestone, formed from ancient coral.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun] > hillock > type of
sheeling-hill1597
parley hill1641
parle hill1664
risbank1665
cradle-heap1830
cradle-hill1855
reef knoll1890
cradle-knoll1897
sheeling-mound1911
1890 R. H. Tiddeman in Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1889 602 At the foot of these mounds, or reef-knolls as I would call them, we have in many places a breccia formed of fragments of the limestone.
1969 G. M. Bennison & A. E. Wright Geol. Hist. Brit. Isles ix. 211 Extensive sheet reefs, not necessarily primarily organic in origin, as well as reef-knolls are widespread, the reef-knolls occurring on the flanks of massifs.
1988 Caves & Caving Summer 21/1 The Mid-Craven Fault runs just to the north of Malham village, giving rise to a series of reef knolls at Town Head, Cawden and Wedber.
reef limestone n. Geomorphology limestone originating in coral or other natural reefs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > rock > sedimentary rock > [noun] > limestone > others
lias1404
stone marrow1681
stone marl1682
saint's head stone1763
Kentish rag1769
watericle1776
kankar1793
Cotham1816
mountain limestone1817
tosca1818
cornstone1819
burr1829
coral-limestone1831
scar-limestone1831
Wenlock limestone1834
bavin1839
curf1839
Solenhofen slate1841
Beer stone1871
miliolite limestone1872
Clipsham1877
reef limestone1884
Hopton wood1888
thermo-calcite1888
Kilkenny marble1930
micrite1959
1884 Amer. Naturalist 18 181 1000 feet of the upper part of a mountain is reef limestone and originally the formation must have been 2000 feet thick.
1938 M. Black Hatch & Rastall's Petrol. Sedimentary Rocks (ed. 3) viii. 163 The term ‘reef limestone’ has been used in geological literature with varying significance. In this discussion, shelly or structureless, unbedded limestones which show no clear connection with sessile benthonic organisms will be left out of consideration.
1990 C. Pellant Rocks, Minerals & Fossils 106 Coral reefs often contain abundant bryozoans and their skeletons are very good at binding lime mud, thereby helping the development of reef limestones.
reef oyster n. chiefly U.S. an oyster growing on a reef (rather than on a bed of sand, a rope, etc.).
ΚΠ
1890 San Antonio (Texas) Daily Light 24 Oct. As to the different kinds of oysters sold here, they are the small Corpus Christi, or reef oyster, as it is called..and the Berwick Bay oyster, the largest one.
1976 Ecology 57 127 (caption) Temporal change in reef oyster size-frequency relationship.
1999 Virginian–Pilot (Norfolk, Virginia) (Nexis) 5 Aug. b1 Fishermen are not allowed to harvest the reef oysters.
reef platform n. = reef flat n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > land mass > reef > [noun] > part
tailing1684
tail1762
reef flat1886
reef platform1899
1853 J. D. Dana On Coral Reefs & Islands iii. 77 The rocky platform of some sea shores..and the coral-reef platform of others require but one explanation.]
1899 Science 8 Dec. 839/1 The reef platform of the north shore was strewn here and there with huge masses of..reef rock.
1963 D. W. Humphries & E. E. Humphries tr. H. Termier & G. Termier Erosion & Sedimentation xiii. 278 It is even possible..that this [sc. marine abrasion] may be responsible for the formation of reef-platforms.
1994 Bull. Marine Sci. 54 164 Explosive blasting to construct boat channels across reef platforms is widespread in the Pacific Islands.
reef rash n. Surfing slang cuts and scrapes sustained by a surfer when falling on to a reef.
ΚΠ
1982 Meetings & Convent. May 102 Surfers ride the waves..risking ‘reef-rash’ with every perilous ‘wipe-out’.
2009 Esquire Mar. 193/2 Wetsuits don't just keep you in the water for longer, they provide you with protection from reef rash.
reef shark n. any of several sharks of the family Carcharinidae, esp. of the genus Carcharinus, which are often associated with reefs; frequently with distinguishing word, as blacktip, grey, whitetip reef shark.
ΚΠ
1957 Ecology 38 169/2 We caught one 8-foot silk shark, Eulamia floridanus, with two striped mullet in its stomach and a 6 foot reef shark, E. falciformis, with 11.
1987 Skin Diver Aug. 130/3 Occasionally, a reef shark cruises by, usually accompanied by a small striped remora.
2005 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 2 Aug. 6/2 The special exhibit tank ruptured, scattering black and white-tipped reef sharks and smaller fish across the floor.
reef sponge n. a small, rounded, dark-coloured sponge, Spongia obliqua (family Spongiidae), which grows on coral reefs in the Caribbean.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [noun] > member of > specific types > spongia officinalis (reef-sponge)
reef sponge1872
reef1883
1872 Titusville (Pa.) Morning Herald 20 May Sponges—Sheep Wool, Carriage, Turkey Cup, Venice Bathing and Reef Sponge Cheap at E. K. Thompson's.
1885 A. Brassey In Trades 311 There were little black balls of reef-sponges.
1938 Deming (New Mexico) Headlight 27 May 4/3 The reef sponge is used in gas masks and in hospitals, and shipped in enormous quantities to Japan.
2000 Marine Pollution Bull. 41 108/1 Sponges are harvested with a minimum size limit of 5.5 in. for wool and grass sponge, 1in. for hard head and reef sponge.
reef trout n. a variety of the North American lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush, typically found in shallow water above reefs and shoals.
ΚΠ
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 488 About Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, two varieties [of lake trout] are also recognised, one being..known as ‘Reef Trout’.
1902 W. C. Harris in D. Sage et al. Salmon & Trout iii. 287 The variety taken in shallow water, being long and slender in form, is called ‘reef trout’.
1992 H. A. Regier & J. L. Goodier in M. H. Glantz Climate Variability, Climate Change, & Fisheries ix. 190 Some island and offshore stocks of lake trout managed to escape severe predation... These included certain reef trout in Lake Superior.
reef wash n. Australian Mining (now chiefly historical) a deposit of wash-dirt lying over bedrock.
ΚΠ
1869 R. B. Smyth Gold Fields Victoria Gloss. 620 Reef-wash—A deposit of washdirt spread over an expanse of flat or undulating reef (i.e., bed-rock), or lodged in a hollow in the reef.
1880 L. Fison & A. W. Howitt Kamilaroi & Kurnai 272 The great ‘reef washes’ of Ballarat are to be referred to the period of depression.
2002 Austral. Jrnl. Earth Sci. 49 870/1 Historically these deposits were differentiated as oldest gold drift and older gold drift..or reef wash and deep lead.
Derivatives
ˈreef-like adj.
ΚΠ
1854 D. Page Introd. Text-bk. Geol. ix. 75 Occasionally the limestone appears in one bold reef-like mass.
1938 Proc. Geol. Soc. Amer. 1937 103 (title) Reef-like deposits in the Carboniferous and adjacent formations of the Llano uplift in central Texas.
2007 Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey) (Nexis) 20 May (Travel section) 1 Schools of silvery fish flitting from reef-like rock formations in pools of turquoise water.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
reefn.3
/riːf/, U.S. /rif/, Scottish English /rif/ Scottish and English regional (northern and midlands). Now rare.
Any of various diseases (of humans or animals) which make the skin scabby; esp. mange or scabies. Also: a scab or crust; an itch.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > scurfy or scabby state or disease
scurfc1000
scabc1250
scallc1374
lepraa1398
morphoeaa1398
scalledness1398
morphewa1400
scabiesc1400
scale14..
scruff14..
shellsc1400
rove?c1450
scabnessc1450
scabbedness1483
scaldness1527
scurfinessa1529
scaledness1530
dandruff1545
skalfering1561
bran1574
room1578
reefa1585
scabbiness1584
scald1598
skilfers1599
scabiosity1608
scalliness1610
scaliness1611
furfur1621
morph1681
pityriasis1684
psoriasis1684
porrigo1706
scaly tetter1799
motley dandruff1822
scale-skin1822
parapsoriasis1903
dander-
a1585 A. Montgomerie Flyting with Polwart (Tullibardine) in Poems (2000) I. 147 The Tarrie vncame, Ay ryvand of ane reif of venymeous water.
1703 R. Thoresby Let. 27 Apr. in J. Ray Corr. (1848) 426 The Reefe, the itch.
1794 Har'st Rig cxi. 36 'Tis but ae night, We'll e'en stay, (may be get the rife).
1817 R. Brown Comic Poems Errata 171 Collies, bairns, and sheep, Wi' tar and butter smears, aff cald, Lice, reef, and scabs, tae keep.
1853 Jrnl. Agric. Oct. 181 We find upon the back of the dipped or unsalved turnip-fed sheep a hard crust, which not unfrequently genders itself into what the skinners technically call ‘reif’.
1866 J. E. Brogden Provinc. Words Lincs. (at cited word) Gaffer has got a bad reef.
1877 E. Leigh Gloss. Words Dial. Cheshire 168 Reef, a rash on the skin, the itch, or any eruptive disorder.
1995 J. M. Sims-Kimbrey Wodds & Doggerybaw: Lincs. Dial. Dict. 243/2 Reef,..eczema, ringworm. A general term for any scabby, itchy infection which seems to form a circle.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
reefv.1
/riːf/, U.S. /rif/ 1. Chiefly Nautical.
a. transitive. To take in or roll up part of (a sail) in order to reduce the area exposed to the wind. Also intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
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
to take in?1518
reef1670
1670 J. Dryden & W. Davenant Shakespeare's Tempest i. 2 Up aloft Lads. Come, reef both Top-sails.
1685 B. Ringrose Bucaniers Amer. xxiii. 168 We riffed our fore-sail, with respect to the violence of the wind.
1687 B. Randolph Present State Archipel. 103 We hoised our main-saile, with which and our fore-saile (both reeft) we stood in.
1708 W. Sewel Large Dict. Eng. & Dutch 405/1 Een reefje inbinden, To Riff (or lessen) the sail.
a1737 M. Green Spleen (1754) 46 I mind my compass and my way..Wisely still prepar'd to reef; Nor wanting the dispersive bowl Of cloudy weather in the soul.
1770 S. Barrington Let. 7 Dec. in Barrington Papers (1937) (modernized text) I. 420 I..told all my Landmen that as soon as they could hand and reef I would rate them Able.
1816 ‘Quiz’ Grand Master Pref. 3 He might have call'd them out to reef.
1888 Encycl. Brit. XXIV. 599/2 Mills are exposed to great danger if the sails are not reefed or furled in high winds.
1904 J. London Sea-wolf xxxix. 363 I abandoned the attempt to reef the mainsail and resolved to try the experiment of heaving to under the close-reefed foresail.
1970 P. O'Brian Master & Commander (new ed.) xi. 351 Every man and boy aboard could now hand, reef and steer.
1990 Times 16 Mar. 47/7 Sailing a 60-foot yacht single-handed, setting, trimming, reefing and dousing sails without any help from anyone.
2006 New Yorker 6 Feb. 79/1 Burke could see her on the deck of a boat, coolly reefing sails in a blow.
b. transitive. To retract or shorten (a mast, bowsprit, etc.). Also intransitive: to be shortened in this way.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > directing or managing a ship > use of sails, spars, or rigging > carry specific amount of sail [verb (transitive)] > shorten topmast or bowsprit
reef1704
1704 [implied in: J. Harris Lexicon Technicum I. at Reef When a Top-Mast is Sprung,..they cut off the lower piece that was near broken off, and setting the other part, now much shorter, in the Step again, they call it a Reeft Top-Mast. (at reefed adj. 1)].
1745 P. Thomas True Jrnl. Voy. South-Seas 138 We found our own Main-top-mast sprung,..whereupon we reef'd it twenty Inches, that is we lower'd it so much and secured it there.
1835 M. H. Barker Tough Yarns 208 But go, James, and help your father reef the bowsprit; for we shall have the gale here presently.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 565 The lower piece is cut off, and a new fid-hole cut, by which the mast is reefed or shortened.
1875 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. III. 1904/1 The bowsprit of a cutter or that of a ship-of-war..is said to reef when it is run-in or shortened by sliding in-board.
1883 Harper's Mag. Aug. 449/2 The bowsprit and topmast can be reefed or housed.
1934 U. Fox Sailing, Seamanship & Yacht Constr. ii. ii. 179 Because they could reef their topmast and had a low rig compared to that of the present day, these old vessels never failed to start.
1982 J. D. Sleightholme Trouble with Cruising x. 76 Their bowsprits were of pitchpine and unstayed,..but then they were whippy spars that could be reefed.
2.
a. transitive. To draw in, hitch up, gather, or shorten in a manner analogous to the reefing of a sail. Hence: to pull or shrug off (clothes).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > removal or displacement > remove or displace [verb (transitive)] > remove or take away
ateec885
withbreidec890
animOE
overbearOE
to do awayOE
flitc1175
reavec1175
takec1175
to have away?a1300
to draw awayc1300
weve13..
to wend awaya1325
withdrawa1325
remuec1325
to carry away1363
to take away1372
waive1377
to long awaya1382
oftakec1390
to draw offa1398
to do froa1400
forflitc1420
amove?a1425
to carry out?a1425
surtrayc1440
surtretec1440
twistc1440
abstract1449
ostea1450
remove1459
ablatea1475
araisea1475
redd1479
dismove1480
diminish?1504
convey1530
alienate1534
retire1536
dimove1540
reversec1540
subtractc1540
submove1542
sublate1548
pare1549
to pull in1549
exempt1553
to shift off1567
retract?1570
renversec1586
aufer1587
to lay offa1593
rear1596
retrench1596
unhearse1596
exemea1600
remote1600
to set off1600
subduct1614
rob1627
extraneize1653
to bring off1656
to pull back1656
draft1742
extract1804
reef1901
1794 J. Grahame Poems 76 Haste, reef the petticoat amain, And tuck up tight the flowing train.
1818 ‘A. Burton’ Adventures Johnny Newcome 67 Sometimes—when he was turning in, He'd find..That they had started both his Cleats—Slip-hitch'd his Laniard—Reef'd his Sheets.
1836 E. Howard Rattlin, the Reefer II. iii. 32 The clues of my hammock were not reefed.
1861 F. L. Olmsted Cotton Kingdom I. v. 208 They were dressed in coarse gray gowns..; which, for greater convenience of working in the mud, were reefed up with a cord drawn tightly around the body.
1887 J. Ashby-Sterry Lazy Minstrel (1892) 68 Dear little damsels..Face the salt spray, reef their petticoats pluckily.
1901 M. Franklin My Brilliant Career xvii. 142 She was the only one who bothered with a bathing-dress. The rest of us reefed off our clothing.
1907 Daily Chron. 12 Aug. 4/7 He still wears a paletot..a loose overcoat with a wide projecting skirt and ample sleeves reefed in close round the wrist.
1962 in J. Glenn et al. Into Orbit 245 Parachutes used on Mercury capsules are reefed by means of ropes tied around the skirt of the parachute.
1994 T. Clancy Debt of Honor xlii. 643 The waistband on his khaki trousers was looser than usual, and he had to reef in his belt a little more.
b. transitive. Surgery. To shorten, reduce, or reinforce by folding and suturing together; to plicate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical treatment > surgery > other surgical practices > perform other surgical practices [verb (transitive)]
reef1895
1895 Canad. Med. Rev. 1 177 The operation he used was not a laparotomy... The transversalis was reefed by a figure of eight stitches.
1902 Lancet 31 May 1532/1 I have often puzzled over the rationale of his method of reefing the aponeurosis over the inguinal canal which is done by infolding.
1938 Surg., Gynecol. & Obstetr. 66 200/2 An attempt was made to shorten the quadriceps by reefing the tendon and fastening the aponeurosis of the internal vastus to the patella under tension.
1963 Amer. Jrnl. Surg. 106 4/2 As much of the esophagus involved in varices as possible was reefed with No. 2-0 chromic catgut suture.
1989 J. A. B. Collier & J. M. Longmore Oxf. Handbk. Clin. Specialties (ed. 2) ix. 610 Treatment [of recurrent posterior dislocation of the shoulder]: reef the infraspinatus tendon.
2002 T. C. Telger tr. M. J. Strobel Man. Arthroscopic Surg. i. i. 43/1 Mechanical techniques of ligament tensing, such as reefing the ligament or transposing its attachment, are extremely controversial on biomechanical grounds.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > propelling other than by sail or oars > propel boat other than by sail or oars [verb (transitive)] > adjust paddle-wheel floats
reef1834
feather1848
1834 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 124 331 With the same boat and the same wheel an increase in speed will be obtained by reducing the diameter, or by reefing the paddles.
1858 R. Murray Marine Engines xii. 143 When the wheels are too deeply immersed, they may sometimes be ‘reefed’ by disconnecting the boards, and securing them near the centre.
1873 H. Evers Steam & Steam Engine vii. 106 A system of reefing the paddles exists, i.e., at the commencement of the voyage the floats are reefed, or unbolted, and fixed nearer the centre.
4. slang.
a. transitive. Criminals' slang (originally U.S.). To draw up the lining of (a pocket) so as to steal the contents; to steal (an item) in this way. Also with up. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > steal [verb (transitive)]
pick?c1300
takec1300
fetch1377
bribec1405
usurpc1412
rapc1415
to rap and rendc1415
embezzle1495
lifta1529
pilfer1532
suffurate1542
convey?1545
mill1567
prig1567
strike1567
lag1573
shave1585
knave1601
twitch1607
cly1610
asport1621
pinch1632
snapa1639
nap1665
panyar1681
to carry off1684
to pick up1687
thievea1695
to gipsy away1696
bone1699
make1699
win1699
magg1762
snatch1766
to make off with1768
snavel1795
feck1809
shake1811
nail1819
geach1821
pull1821
to run off1821
smug1825
nick1826
abduct1831
swag1846
nobble1855
reef1859
snig1862
find1865
to pull off1865
cop1879
jump1879
slock1888
swipe1889
snag1895
rip1904
snitch1904
pole1906
glom1907
boost1912
hot-stuff1914
score1914
clifty1918
to knock off1919
snoop1924
heist1930
hoist1931
rabbit1943
to rip off1967
to have off1974
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > picking pockets > pick pockets [verb (transitive)]
reef1902
dip1925
1859 G. W. Matsell Vocabulum 73 Reefing, drawing. ‘Reefing up into work’, drawing up the pocket until the purse or port-monnaie is within reach of the fingers.
1865 Leaves from Diary Celebrated Burglar 92/1 Now or never, thought I, and leaning over I ‘reefed’ up his ‘leather’, which I instantly handed to Joe.
1899 ‘J. Flynt’ Tramping with Tramps 395 ‘To reef a leather’ means that the pickpocket pulls out the lining of a pocket containing the ‘leather’.
1902 J. S. Farmer & W. E. Henley Slang VI. i. 10/1 Reef..(thieves'), to draw up a dress-pocket until the purse is within reach of the fingers.
1977 Times 13 July 5/4 As the talent suckers chummy, the wire reefs his leather... A slick pickpocket team has a private language for its dirty work.
b. transitive. Originally and chiefly Australian. More generally: to steal; to obtain dishonestly. Also with down.
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1945 L. Glassop We were Rats xviii. 102 ‘Where'd you get all the smash?’ asked Pat. ‘The Harday organization,’ said Gordon, ‘works fast. I reefed it off a few Parsees like steam.’
1953 K. Tennant Joyful Condemned xxiii. 223 They vowed it [sc. a magpie] ran squawking to inform on anyone who was reefing down a bit of lightning conductor to make an aerial.
1967 K. Giles Death in Diamonds vi. 104 If I go near the car pool they'll reef it off me.
2003 Advertiser (Adelaide) (Nexis) 10 Dec. 17 How kind..to give us back some of the money he reefed off us in GST [= goods and services tax].
5. transitive. coarse slang. To feel the genitals of (a person). Now rare.
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the world > physical sensation > sexual relations > sexual activity > other types of sexual activity or intercourse > engage in other types of sexual activity or intercourse [verb (transitive)] > stimulate genitals of (a person)
gropec1275
feel1569
goose1879
to play with ——1879
fingerc1890
to bring off1916
to feel up1926
to jack off?1927
reef1962
fingle1996
1962 T. Parker & R. Allerton Courage of his Convictions i. 33 I enjoyed reefing girls much more than lessons. The girls enjoyed it too.
1972 B. Rodgers Queens' Vernacular 101 Cop a feel..reef (Brit gay sl); take somebody's pulse.
Compounds
reef-topsail adj. Nautical (now rare) (attributive) designating a wind strong enough to require topsails to be reefed; also in extended use.
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the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [adjective] > allowing specific sails to be carried
topsail cole1390
loom1600
reef-topsail1693
topgallant1697
whole-sail1824
1693 R. Lyde True Acct. Retaking of Ship 25 I thought I might sink to an Anchor (if the Storm did increase, as now it blew a Reef Top-sail Gale) for want of help.
1840 R. H. Dana Two Years before Mast xxxi. 235 We had a steady ‘reef-topsail breeze’ from the westward.
1909 B. Lubbock Deep Sea Warriors 16 The sail-maker's reef-topsail voice drowned my question.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
reefv.2
/riːf/, U.S. /rif/, Australian English /riːf/, New Zealand English /riːf/ Chiefly Australian and New Zealand. Now rare.
intransitive. To mine or prospect for gold, etc., on a reef (reef n.2 2a). Chiefly in continuous tenses. Cf. reefing n.2
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society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (intransitive)] > for gold
reef1862
1862 J. A. Patterson Gold Fields Victoria iv. 34 Poverty Reef..was first prospected some seven years ago by Mr. King, Mr. Hammond, and others... These gentlemen had been reefing previously in the Maldon district.
1899 Bulletin (Sydney) 12 Aug. 14/1 The real terror is the man who's been reefing 10 or 20 years.
c1930 Whitcombe's School Etymol. Dict. Suppl. 9 Reef,..to work at a reef.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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