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reef

noun
🔊/riːf/
🔊/riːf/
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  1. a long line of rocks or sand near the surface of the sea礁；礁脉
    • a coral reef珊瑚礁
    • the Great Barrier Reef大堡礁
    see also barrier reefTopics Geographyb2
  2. a part of a sail that can be tied or rolled up to make the sail smaller in a strong wind缩帆部；帆的可收缩部
    3. Word Originnoun sense 1 late 16th cent. (earlier as riff): from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch rif, ref, from Old Norse rif, literally ‘rib’, used in the same sense. noun sense 2 Middle English: from Middle Dutch reef, rif, from Old Norse rif, literally ‘rib’, used in the same sense.

reef

verb
🔊/riːf/
🔊/riːf/
(specialist)
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they reef
🔊/riːf/
🔊/riːf/
he / she / it reefs
🔊/riːfs/
🔊/riːfs/
past simple reefed
🔊/riːft/
🔊/riːft/
past participle reefed
🔊/riːft/
🔊/riːft/
-ing form reefing
🔊/ˈriːfɪŋ/
🔊/ˈriːfɪŋ/
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  1. reef something to make a sail smaller by tying or rolling up part of it收帆；卷起缩帆部；叠起缩帆部
    • They set sail with the sails reefed against the strong winds.他们乘着逆风刮起的帆起航。
    Oxford Collocations DictionaryReef is used with these nouns as the object:
    • sail
    See full entry
    Word Originverb Middle English: from Middle Dutch reef, rif, from Old Norse rif, literally ‘rib’, used in the same sense.