gaff (1) — ONAD

gaff1 /ɡaf, ɡæf

▸ noun

1 a stick with a hook or barbed spear, for landing large fish.

2 Sailing a spar to which the head of a fore-and-aft sail is bent:

[in combination] a gaff-rigged cutter.

▸ verb [with object] seize or impale with a gaff:

the whales are gaffed, speared, or knifed to death.

– ORIGIN Middle English : from Provençal gaf ‘hook’; related to gaffe.