stunsailn.
/ˈstʌnsl/, U.S. /ˈstən(t)səl/ Nautical. Now chiefly historical.
On a square-rigged ship: an additional sail set at the end of a yard to increase the ship's speed in a fair wind; = studdingsail n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > masts, rigging, or sails > sail > [noun] > studding sail
studdingsailc1550
steering sail1669
stunsail1762
stud-sail1780
1762 W. Falconer Shipwreck i. 10 Now swelling stu'n-sails on each side extend.
1816 M. G. Lewis Jrnl. 1815–16 30 Apr. in Jrnl. W. India Proprietor (1834) 252 A sudden squall carried away both our lower stunsails in the morning.
1863 C. Reade Hard Cash I. xi. 267 All hands set stunsels 'low and aloft!
1913 M. Roberts Salt of Sea ix. 216 His ears [were] large and outstanding, like a couple of stunsails.
1935 Pop. Sci. Monthly Feb. 96/2 The ringtail, if used, is set like a stunsail.
2004 C. G. Hearn Circuits in Sea vi. 88 The Wire Squadron..bowled along under royals and stunsails.
Compounds
General attributive, as stunsail boom, stunsail yard, etc.
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1797 T. Trotter Medicina Nautica 39 He shoots away his stun-sail halliards.
1825 H. B. Gascoigne Path to Naval Fame 49 The Stunsail Booms they raise.
1850 H. Melville White-jacket xcii. 459 I..was ordered to reeve anew the stun'-sail-halyards.
1938 Pop. Sci. Monthly Aug. 97/2 The stunsail yard is half the length of its boom.
1943 Mariner's Mirror 29 181 Lower stunsail halliards and tripping lines.
1993 A. Gould Three Streets in Search of Author 15 I plane a stunsail boom down to size.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1762