Definitions

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun same as centerboard.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun nautical The adjustable keel on a small yacht or dinghy that acts, among other things, as ballast and to counteract the sideways force of the wind.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a retractable fin keel used on sailboats to prevent drifting to leeward

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From centre + board.

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word centreboard.

Examples

  • The centreboard was a novelty to us, and we could see how close it helped the little vessel to sail in the eye of the wind.

    The Narrative of Gordon Sellar Who Emigrated to Canada in 1825 Gordon Sellar

  • I pulled up my centreboard, ran full tilt into the mud, took in sail, and, standing in the stern, as I had often done at low tide, I began to shove the skiff with an oar.

    Chapter 6 2010

  • When I was fourteen, my head filled with the tales of the old voyagers, my vision with tropic isles and far sea-rims, I was sailing a small centreboard skiff around San Francisco Bay and on the Oakland Estuary.

    Chapter 6 2010

  • The centreboard banged up in its casing, and the yawl grounded on gravel with a lurch.

    Shadowfane Wurts, Janny 1988

  • She climbed on to the centreboard that stuck out horizontally from the hull at water level and stood on it holding on to the gunwale while he swam below, marvelling at the slim lines of her figure and at her effrontery.

    On The Beach Shute, Nevil, 1899-1960 1957

  • Brooklyn, N.Y., a 16-foot flat-bottomed skiff with centreboard, sail, oars and oarlocks, for a 46 or 48-inch rubber-tired steel-spoked bicycle.

    Golden Days for Boys and Girls Volume VIII, No 25: May 21, 1887 Various

  • Had it not been that the boat had a centreboard we would have made small progress.

    The Narrative of Gordon Sellar Who Emigrated to Canada in 1825 Gordon Sellar

  • On either side the boys had fitted up small bunks that served for lounging during calm weather, and in the middle of this space, on the centreboard box, they had arranged a table on which stood a small oil stove.

    A Voyage with Captain Dynamite Charles Edward Rich

  • A sailing canoe, however, will require a rudder, a keel, and a centreboard as well.

    Outdoor Sports and Games Claude H. Miller

  • The centreboard is so arranged that it can be raised or lowered by means of a line.

    Outdoor Sports and Games Claude H. Miller

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.