reef

Wikipedia

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /riːf/

• Audio (US)

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• Rhymes: -iːf

Etymology

From Old Norse rif.

Noun

Wikipedia reef (plural reefs)

1. A chain or range of rocks, sand, or coral lying at or near the surface of the water.
2. (Australian) & (South Africa) A large vein of auriferous quartz; hence, any body of rock yielding valuable ore.
3. (nautical) A portion of a sail rolled and tied down to lessen the area exposed in a high wind.
4. A reef knot.

Derived terms

• coral reef
• reef rash

Translations

rocks at or near surface of the water

Croatian: greben (hr) m. Dutch: rif (nl) n. Finnish: karikko (fi) (rocks), särkkä (fi) (sand), riutta (fi) (coral) French: écueil (fr) m., récif (fr) m. German: Riff (de) n. Greek: ύφαλος (el) (ífalos) m., ξέρα (el) (kséra) f., ξέρη (el) (kséri) f., σκόπελος (el) (skópelos) m.

Irish: scoth (ga) f. Italian: scogliera (it) f., barriera (it) f. Japanese: 礁 (shō) Portuguese: recife (pt) m., arrecife (pt) m., (Portugal) restinga (pt) Russian: риф (ru) (rif) m. Spanish: arrecife (es) m. Swedish: rev (sv) n.

large vein of auriferous quartz

French: filon (fr) m.

Italian: filone (it) m.

arrangement to reduce the area of a sail

Dutch: rif (nl) n. Finnish: reivi (fi) Italian: terzarolo (it) m.

Japanese: 縮帆 (shukuho) Russian: риф (ru) (rif) m. Scottish Gaelic: riof (gd) m.

reef knot — see reef knot

Verb

reef (third-person singular simple present reefs, present participle reefing, simple past and past participle reefed)

1. (nautical) To take in part of a sail in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind.
2. (Australian) To pull or yank strongly "He reefed the horse's head around sharply."

Translations

sailing

Dutch: reffen Finnish: reivata (fi) French: prendre un ris (prise de ris)

Italian: terzarolare (it) Polish: refować (pl) Scottish Gaelic: riof (gd)

Anagrams

• fere
• free