halyard
noun
hal·yard ˈhal-yərd 
: a rope or tackle for hoisting and lowering something (such as sails)
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web Advertising signs should not be attached to the flag's staff or halyard (the rope used to hoist the flag). 
Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Sep. 2022 City lights twinkled; only the clinking of the flag’s metal halyard against the flagpole broke the silence. Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2021 Floating in Port Hercules the other week — ensigns fluttering, halyards singing — was one of the most spectacular displays of seagoing craft ever seen: 125 superyachts with a combined value of $4.4 billion. Benjamin Stupplesbloomberg, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2019 And then to fall asleep to the summer sounds of the sea: a lullaby of waves lapping against rocky shores punctuated by the rhythmic tinkling of sailboat halyards. Walter Nicklin, Washington Post, 27 June 2019 When the rotund American commander, Gen. William Rufus Shafter, told him to take his hands off the halyard, the correspondent slugged him, or tried to (accounts vary). John Maxwell Hamilton, National Geographic, 16 Apr. 2019 Even before dawn the marina is loud with gulls and banging halyards and happy obscenity. Ben Lowy, Smithsonian, 23 May 2018 That means adding halyards as the flagpole ropes are called, hardware at the top and bottom and, finally, a golden ball at the very top. Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Apr. 2018 Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown. Stefan Stevenson, star-telegram, 22 Oct. 2017 See More
Sarah Martens, Better Homes & Gardens, 5 Sep. 2022 City lights twinkled; only the clinking of the flag’s metal halyard against the flagpole broke the silence. Marcus Yam, Los Angeles Times, 15 Aug. 2021 Floating in Port Hercules the other week — ensigns fluttering, halyards singing — was one of the most spectacular displays of seagoing craft ever seen: 125 superyachts with a combined value of $4.4 billion. Benjamin Stupplesbloomberg, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2019 And then to fall asleep to the summer sounds of the sea: a lullaby of waves lapping against rocky shores punctuated by the rhythmic tinkling of sailboat halyards. Walter Nicklin, Washington Post, 27 June 2019 When the rotund American commander, Gen. William Rufus Shafter, told him to take his hands off the halyard, the correspondent slugged him, or tried to (accounts vary). John Maxwell Hamilton, National Geographic, 16 Apr. 2019 Even before dawn the marina is loud with gulls and banging halyards and happy obscenity. Ben Lowy, Smithsonian, 23 May 2018 That means adding halyards as the flagpole ropes are called, hardware at the top and bottom and, finally, a golden ball at the very top. Carl Nolte, San Francisco Chronicle, 7 Apr. 2018 Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown. Stefan Stevenson, star-telegram, 22 Oct. 2017 See More Word History
Etymology
Middle English halier, probably from Anglo-French *halier, from haler to haul — more at hale
First Known Use
14th century, in the meaning defined above
Kids Definition
halyard
noun
hal·yard ˈhal-yərd
: a rope for raising or lowering a sail
halyards
noun
as in lanyards
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- lanyards
- wires
- ropes
- cables
- cords
- strings
- laces
- guys
- stays
- lacings
- lines
- bungees
- whipcords
- bungee cords
- pendulette
- penduline
- penduline titmouse
- pendulosity
- pendulous
- pendulous crop
- pendulousness
- pendulousnesses
- pendulum
- pendulum gun
- pendulum level
- pendulum press
- pendulum saw
- pendulum watch
- pendulums
- pene-
- penecontemporaneous
- penecontemporaneously
- pened
- penedos de são pedro e são paulo
- penei
- peneid
- Peneidae
- peneidaes
- Peneides