with the sails flat, so as to sail as close to the wind as possible
close-hauled in American English
(ˈklousˈhɔld)
adjective or adverb
Nautical
as close to the wind as a vessel will sail, with sails as flat as possible; full and by
Word origin
[1760–70]This word is first recorded in the period 1760–70. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: boutique, genre, ingrain, letdown, provincialism
Examples of 'close-hauled' in a sentence
close-hauled
By twenty after, the Snow Goose was heeled over on the port tack, close-hauled and making over nine knots.