tack

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Contents

English [edit]

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Tacks (small nails with flat heads)

Pronunciation [edit]

Noun [edit]

Tacks (used to attach thin objects to thick ones, in this case (potentially) papers to a bulletin board)

tack (plural tacks)

  1. A small nail with a flat head.
    • 2012, July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
      A tough test for even the strongest climber, it was new to the Tour de France this year, but its debut will be remembered for the wrong reasons after one of those spectators scattered carpet tacks on the road and induced around 30 punctures among the group of riders including Bradley Wiggins, the Tour's overall leader, and his chief rivals.
  2. A thumbtack.
  3. (sewing) A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.
  4. (nautical) The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.
  5. (nautical) A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind. See also reach, gybe.
  6. A direction or course of action, especially a new one.
    • 1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, Abacus 2010, p. 637:
      I thought that my refusing Barnard would alienate Botha, and decided that such a tack was too risky.
  7. (nautical) 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. (nautical) The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board.
  9. Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack.
  10. (chemistry) The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties.

Synonyms [edit]

Hyponyms [edit]

  • (nail-like object for affixing thin things): thumbtack

Derived terms [edit]

Translations [edit]

small nail
thumbtack — see thumbtack
loose seam
nautical: part of sail
nautical direction
course of action
nautical: maneuver
nautical: distance between these maneuvers — see board
any equipment worn by horse
chemistry: stickiness

Verb [edit]

tack (third-person singular simple present tacks, present participle tacking, simple past and past participle tacked)

  1. To nail with a tack (small nail with a flat head).
  2. To sew/stich with a tack (loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth).
  3. (nautical) 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.
  4. To add something as an extra item.
    to tack (something) onto (something)
  5. Often paired with "up"", to place the tack on a horse.

Synonyms [edit]

  • (nautical: to turn the bow through the wind): to change tack

Antonyms [edit]

  • (nautical: to turn the stern through the wind): to wear

Translations [edit]

to nail with tacks
to stitch
nautical: to turn the bow through the wind
to add onto, to tack one thing onto another
to tack up a horse
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

Related terms [edit]

See also [edit]

Scots [edit]

Noun [edit]

tack (plural tacks)

  1. Lease, tenancy
  2. The period of such a contract
  3. A leasehold; especially, the tenure of a land or a farm.

Swedish [edit]

Etymology [edit]

From Old Norse þǫkk, from Proto-Germanic *þankō, *þankaz. Cognates include English thank, German Dank, Danish tak and Icelandic and Norwegian takk.

Pronunciation [edit]

Interjection [edit]

tack

  1. thanks, please
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