tack

Meaning

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 bread kind.
13. That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix.
14. (obsolete) Confidence; reliance.

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. (obsolete,slang) To join in wedlock.

Synonyms

baste

nail

pin

thumbtack

append

tack together

spike

peg

saddlery

stitch

tacking

drawing pin

rivet

stable gear

hang on

assemble

fasten

attach

interchange

tack on

tag on

weather sheet

annex

set up

sew

sheet

luff

mainsheet

shroud

flip

flip-flop

stick

beat

alternate

switch

piece

toggle

harness

post

drawing-pin

wear round

put together

hobnail

plant

🌱

point

pushpin

📌

reeve

reservation

rider

rig

run up

secure

shift

sign on

skewer

sprig

stake

stay

stick on

strap

supplement

tack about

tackiness

tag

turn

climbing iron

peg out

plow through

turn head

begin to do

be used to a job

stop peg

tintack

foodstuff

policy

stub nail

backband

subsidiary condition

fasten with nails

push pin

line of approach

line of policy

addendum

additional provisions

additional clause

adhesiveness

adjoin

affix

appendix

band

beat up against the wind

belay

bend

bond

bracket

brooch

catch

clamminess

clasp

cleat

climber

course

crampon

crampoon

deviate

dowel

fare

fix

fixate

frame

frame up

frap

gibe

hammer

🔨

hitch

indent

indenture

infix

join

moor

mortgage

mount

nail down

needle

ornament

path

🛣️

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tæk/

Etymology

From Middle English tak, takke (“hook; staple; nail”), from Old Northern French taque (“nail, pin, peg”), from Frankish *takkō, from Proto-Germanic *takkô (“tip; point; protrusion; prong; tine; jag; spike; twig”), 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”).