Tack

tak, n. A small, short, sharp-pointed nail, usu- ally having a broad head. (Xaut.) A rope to confine the foremost lower corners of the courses and stay-sails, when the wind cro es the ship's course obliquely; also, a rope to pull the lower corner of a studding-sail to the boom: the part of a sail to which the tack usually fastened: the course of a ship in regard to the position of her sails. — Tack. v. [tacked (takt). tackixg.] To fasten or attach to attach, unite, or secure m a slight or hasty manner; to join as with stitches or tacks: to add. append. — v. and (Saut.) To change the course of a ship by shifting the tacks and position of the sails and rudder. [Ir. taca, stang, Ga. tacaid, staing, a tack, peg. pin; stake, take, attach the sailor's tack is the rope which attaches the sail to the windward side of the ship.] — Hard tack. A large kind of hard crackers, used for food by sailors and soldiers.