Yard

(yah rd.) [ From A.S. yeard.] (Camb.) The English standard measure of linear dimension, containing 3 feet and each foot 12 inches.-(Naut.) A long, tapering spar fitted cro wise upon a ship's mast, and secured to it by slings in the centre. They serve to extend the sails-hoisting or lowering them as occasion serves-and take various names from the respective masts they belong to, and the positions they fill upon such masts. [s. 973]