English Explanatory Dictionary

tack

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A small nail with a flat head.
  2. A thumbtack.
  3. A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.
  4. The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.
  5. A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind.
  6. A direction or course of action, especially a new one; a method or approach to solving a problem.
  7. The maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the wind changes from one side to the other.
  8. The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board.
  9. A rope used to hold in place the foremost lower corners of the courses when the vessel is close-hauled; also, a rope employed to pull the lower corner of a studding sail to the boom.
  10. Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals.
  11. The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties.
  12. Food generally; fare, especially of the hard bread or breadlike kind.
verb
  1. To nail (something) with a tack (small nail with a flat head).
  2. To sew/stitch with a tack (loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth).
  3. To weld with initial small welds to temporarily fasten in preparation for full welding.
  4. To maneuver a sailing vessel so that its bow turns through the wind, i.e. the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other.
  5. To sail to windward using a series of alternate tacks across the wind.
  6. To add something as an extra item.
  7. Synonym of tack up (“to prepare a horse for riding by equipping it with a tack”).
  8. To join in wedlock.
noun
  1. A stain; a tache.
  2. A peculiar flavour or taint.
noun
  1. That which is tacky; something cheap and gaudy.
noun
  1. A contract by which the use of a thing is set, or let, for hire; a lease.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/tæk/ en-us-tack.ogg

Word forms

tack tacks tache tacking tacked

Etymology

From Middle English tak, takke (“hook; staple; nail”), from Old Northern French taque (“nail, pin, peg”), from Frankish *takkō (“twig, branch, shoot”), of unknown origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *dHgʰ-n-, from the root *déHgʰ- (“to pinch; to tear, rip, fray”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Takke (“bough; branch; twig”), West Frisian takke (“branch”), tûk (“branch, smart, sharp”), Dutch tak (“twig; branch; limb”), German Zacke (“jag; prong; spike; tooth; peak”).

Synonyms

coming about biscuit bread tack weld change tack beat tack up cheapie gaud tawdry cheapo tack ticky-tack

Antonyms

wear gybe run

Related words

tacky Blu-Tack tick tack tick-tack tick-tack-toe

Derived words

bartack Blu-Tack change of tack coffin tack detack down tack false tack get down to brass tacks hardtack hold tack on the tack sharp as a tack sit on a tack switch tack tackboard tack claw tacker tackify tackless tacklifter tack lifter tack room tacksman tack weld thumbtack tie tack tintack untack short-tack retack tack about tack down tack on tack together tack up
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