tack

Meaning

Noun

1. (countable, uncountable) A small nail with a flat head.
2. (countable, uncountable) A thumbtack.
3. (countable, uncountable) A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.
4. (countable, uncountable) The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.
5. (countable, uncountable) A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind.
6. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) A direction or course of action, especially a new one; a method or approach to solving a problem.
7. (countable, uncountable) 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. (countable, uncountable) The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board.
9. (countable, uncountable) 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. (countable, uncountable) Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals.
11. (countable, uncountable) The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties.
12. (countable, uncountable) Food generally; fare, especially of the hard bread or breadlike kind.
13. (countable, uncountable) That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix.
14. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Confidence; reliance.

Verb

1. (transitive) 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. (intransitive) 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.

Opposite of

wear, run

Synonyms

baste

nail

pin

thumbtack

append

tack together

peg

spike

stitch

drawing pin

stable gear

tacking

hang on

saddlery

rivet

hobnail

beat

weather sheet

toggle

wear round

harness

stick

alternate

tack on

attach

tag on

switch

shroud

annex

assemble

set up

post

flip

piece

put together

luff

flip-flop

fasten

mainsheet

drawing-pin

sew

sheet

interchange

dowel

deviate

crampoon

beat up against the wind

crampon

course

infix

Translations

tachuela

heften

punaise

🐛

clou

louvoyer

amure

bulletta

virer de bord

laveren

Reißnagel

pointe

lavieren

Reißzwecke

kreuzen

Stift

Pronounced as (IPA)

/tæk/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: tak

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Takke

Cognate with Western Frisian: takke

Cognate with Dutch: tak

Cognate with German: Zacke

Inherited from Middle English: takken

Cognate with Scots: tack

In summary

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”).