Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One of several small ropes attached to the leech of a sail for drawing the sail in or up.
- noun A small net for drawing fish from a trap or a larger net into a boat.
- transitive verb To gather in (a sail) with brails.
- transitive verb To haul in (fish) with a brail.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A section of a log-raft, six of which make an average tow.
- noun Naut., one of certain ropes made fast to the after-leech of a fore-and-aft sail, and led through blocks on the mast or gaff down to the deck, to assist in taking in the sail; a rope made fast to the head of a jib for a similar purpose.
- noun In falconry: A piece of leather used to bind up a hawk's wing.
- noun [⟨ F. brayeul, “the parts or feathers about the Hauks fundament, called by our falconers the brayl in a shortwinged and the pannel in a long-winged hauk” (Cotgrave).] The mass of feathers about a hawk's fundament; the crissum of a falcon.
- To fasten up (the wings of a bird).
- Nautical, to haul in by means of the brails: usually followed by up.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Falconry) A thong of soft leather to bind up a hawk's wing.
- noun (Naut.) Ropes passing through pulleys, and used to haul in or up the leeches, bottoms, or corners of sails, preparatory to furling.
- noun A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.
- transitive verb (Naut.) To haul up by the brails; -- used with
up .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical a small rope used to truss up
sails - verb To
reef , shorten or strikesail using brails.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb take in a sail with a brail
- noun a small net used to draw fish into a boat
- noun a small rope (one of several) used to draw a sail in
- verb haul fish aboard with brails
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Elsewhere (and prevalently) confusing or misleading information is given (e.g., [at brail] "Earlier spelled brale, it came from Old French, braile, belt."): Is the inference to be that the modern English word brail was borrowed from Old French in the fifteenth century?
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Why can't kids modeling clothes in adverts have Down's syndrome, newscasters be wheelchair users, and continuity voices be reading brail?
Thank you Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, for improving the lives of disabled people 2011
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I wish I had brail e-mail ... but since I dont, somebody read this to Brutha Patterson, the Clintons have LOST their MOJO ...
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I don't believe there's a brail version of the trailer.
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Caroline smiles before reaching out to touch a shapeless shadow dancing on the wall, closing her eyes as the bumps in the primer serve brail to oncoming dreams.
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Audio book, large print, small print, Japanese text and brail.
Jordan’s Dreary Drug Tale Not About Cocaine, Apparently 2010
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He learned the equipment: the jesses, the hood, the brail, the leash that bound the bird to his wrist.
Cassandra Clare: The Mortal Instrument Series Cassandra Clare 2009
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For those of you unfamiliar with this "ancient" form of communication, the telex was only marginally more advanced than smoke signals, and required the typing of a brail-like tape, later fed through the contraption, words supposedly being spit out on the recipients 'machine.
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Do u tink handee-kat can obsoe reed brail wif whiskus?
blind kitteh - Lolcats 'n' Funny Pictures of Cats - I Can Has Cheezburger? 2008
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He learned the equipment: the jesses, the hood, the brail, the leash that bound the bird to his wrist.
The Mortal Instruments: Book One: City of Bones Cassandra Clare 2007
frogapplause commented on the word brail
“Couple of you come aft here and brail up the spanker!”
The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, No. 14, December 1858
November 26, 2011