English▸ noun
1 a small, sharp broad-headed nail:
tacks held the remaining rags of carpet to the floor.
▪ North American a thumbtack:
here are some tacks—put up a notice.
3 a method of dealing with a situation or problem; a course of action or policy:
as she could not stop him from going she tried another tack and insisted on going with him.
4 Sailing an act of changing course by turning a vessel's head into and through the wind, so as to bring the wind on the opposite side.
▪ a boat's course relative to the direction of the wind:
the brig bowled past on the opposite tack.
▪ a distance sailed between changes of course:
it's a shame to see a yacht drop her sails and start the diesel just because she has to make a few short tacks.
5 Sailing a rope for securing the weather clew of a course.
▪ the weather clew of a course, or the lower forward corner of a fore-and-aft sail.
▸ verb
1 [with object and adverbial] fasten or fix in place with tacks:
he used the tool to tack down sheets of fiberboard.
▪ fasten (pieces of cloth) together temporarily with long stitches:
when the dress was roughly tacked together, she tried it on.
▪ (tack something on) add or append something to something already existing:
long-term savings plans with some life insurance tacked on.
2 [no object] Sailing change course by turning a boat's head into and through the wind:
their boat was now downwind and they had to tack.
Compare with wear2. [from the practice of shifting ropes (see tack1 (SENSE 5 OF THE noun) of noun) to change direction.]
▪ [with object] alter the course of (a sailboat):
I tacked the ship shortly after midnight.
▪ [with adverbial of direction] make a series of changes of course while sailing:
she spent the entire night tacking back and forth.
– PHRASES
on the port tack Sailing
with the wind coming from the port side of the boat:
with the wind coming from the starboard side of the boat:
on the port tack Sailing
with the wind coming from the port side of the boat:
we're now on a long stretch on the port tack.
on the starboard tack Sailing with the wind coming from the starboard side of the boat:
as soon as the yacht is established on the starboard tack, the jib sheet is let fly.
– ORIGIN Middle English (in the general sense ‘something that fastens one thing to another’): probably related to Old French tache ‘clasp, large nail’.