Sloop

(sloop.) [Du. slæp.] (Naut.) A one-masted ve el, with a mainsail attached to a gaff above, to abo om below, and to the mast on its foremost edge; it is distinguished from a cutter by having a fixed bowsprit and a jib -stay. A sloop of war is a ve el larger than a brig and smaller than a corvette, either ship-, brig-, or schooner-rigged, and carrying usually from 10 to 18 guns. [s. 832]