Naut. Forms: (see SPRIT sb.1 and SAIL sb.1; also) 7 sprissel, sprisle. [f. SPRIT sb.1 Cf. Du. sprietzeil, WFris. -seil, NFris. spritseil, spretsaiel, Da. spritsejl, Sw. -segel, G. sprietsegel.]
1. A sail extended by a sprit; formerly also a sail attached to a yard slung under the bowsprit of large vessels.
α. 1466. Mann. & Househ. Exp., 344. My mastyr paid to Willyam Elyse for to carye his sprete seyle of the kervelle to Yipswyche.
1497. Naval Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 303. Tyes for the Sprette Sayle.
1616. Capt. Smith, Descr. New Eng., 49. Onely her spret saile remayned to spoon before the wind, till we had reaccommodated a Iury mast. Ibid. (1627), Seaman’s Gram., vii. 32. The Spret-saile is 3/4 parts the depth of the fore saile.
1694. Motteux, Rabelais, IV. xviii. (1737), 76. He … made them … take in their Spreet-sail.
1750. Blanckley, Naval Expos., 150. Smacks are necessary Transporting Vessels, with one Mast and half Spreet-sail.
β. 1485. Naval Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 41. Spritt sailes feble, j.
1582. N. Lichefield, trans. Castanheda’s Conq. E. Ind., I. xxix. 72 b. The Captaine generall commanded … to fardle up their sprits sailes.
1598. Lodge, Looking Gl. Lond. & Eng., F ij b. Our topsailes vp, we trusse our spritsailes in.
1655. Heywood & Rowley, Fortune by Land & Sea, IV. Our Spright-sayl, Top-sail, and Top-gallant … are hung with waving pendants.
1671. Lond. Gaz., No. 621/1. With great difficulty the Swallow, having onely a Mainsayl and Spritsayl left,… performed her Voyage.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 107. We unbent the Mizzen and Sprit-sail.
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, 42. Barges, Pinnaces, and Yawls, with Sprit-sails.
1839. Marryat, Phant. Ship, viii. (Rtldg.), 66. She carried a square spritsail and sprit-topsail.
1891. Spectator, 7 Feb., 211/1. The spritsail, the object of which is to get the advantage of a lofty peak and retain a short mast.
b. ellipt. A spritsail barge.
1881. Standard, 22 June, 3/7. The leading topsail barges at this part of the race overhauled the spritsails.
2. attrib. a. In the sense ‘of or belonging to a spritsail,’ as spritsail brace, brails, clewline, etc.
1599. Dallam, in Early Voy. Levant (Hakluyt Soc.), 59. Myssen top, sprid saile top.
1626. Capt. Smith, Wks. (Arb.), II. 793. The spret sayle top mast, the spret sayle top sayle yard. Ibid. (1627), Seaman’s Gram., 31, marg. Spretsaile top-Saile.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., 16. Let go the Sprit sail Breales, and hale aft the Sheets. Ibid., 17. Vere out … your Fore and Main-sheets, and Sprisle-sheets.
1676. Wiseman, Surgery, VI. v. 425. Our men bravely quitted themselves of the Fire-ship by cutting the Sprit-sail-Tackle off with their short Hatchets.
1692. Smith’s Seaman’s Gram., I. xiv. 65. Spritsail Clewlines.
1698. in MSS. Ho. Lords, New Ser. III. (1905), 34. The … rope was expended … for mizen top gallant mast and spritsail top gallant mast.
1711. W. Sutherland, Shipbuild. Assist., 112. Sprit-sail Lifts.
1750. Blanckley, Naval Expos., 12. Spritsail Sheat Blocks are turn’d.
1769. Falconer, Dict. Marine (1780), s.v., Formerly the spritsail-topsails were set on a mast, which was erected … on the end of the bowsprit.
1794. Rigging & Seamanship, 135. Spritsail-Topgallant-sail is quadrilateral,… and is bent on the head, to the spritsail-topgallant-yard.
c. 1810. Adm. Patton, in 19th Cent. (1899), 723. A seaman … let go the sprit-sail brace.
1860. All Year Round, No. 66. 382. ‘Which knot?’ asked Toby. ‘Single or double wall,… spritsail-sheet, stopper, or shroud?’
c. 1860. H. Stuart, Seaman’s Catech., 3. Spritsail gaff on bowsprit.
b. Spritsail yard, a yard slung under the bowsprit to support a spritsail. Also attrib.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., iii. 16. The spret-saile Yard [must be] 16. yards long, and but 9. inches thicke.
1687. Lond. Gaz., No. 2246/4. A Sally Man of War,… with his Men on his Bowsprit and his Sprissel-yards along Ships.
1745. P. Thomas, Jrnl. Anson’s Voy., 281. We … got our Spritsail yard fore and aft,… which is an infallible Sign of a Design to board the Enemy.
1797. S. James, Narr. Voyage, 28. The boatswain, and others of the English seamen, were sitting at the spritsail yard.
c. 1810. Adm. Patton, in 19th Cent. (1899), 723. Five of the enemy had got upon our starboard sprit-sail yard-arm.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxv. 83. The spritsail yard sprung in the slings.
c. In the sense ‘carrying a spritsail,’ as spritsail barge, vessel.
1798. Ann. Reg., Chron., 40/2. As a sprit-sail vessel … was coming up the river.
1885. Daily Tel., 27 Oct. (Encycl. Dict.). The well-known sprit-sail barge, a vessel with a mainsail that sets on a sprit.
Hence Spritsail-yard v. trans., to disable (a shark, dog-fish, etc.) by thrusting a spar or piece of wood through the snout or gills.
1835. Marryat, Pacha of Many Tales, ix. (Rtldg.), 111. The shark … had been caught and spritsail-yarded, as the seamen term it.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., 646. Sprit-sail yarding, a cruelty in which some fishermen wreak vengeance on sharks, dog-fish, etc., that encroach on their baits, and foul their nels.
