Definition of "outrigger" []

• Nautical A projecting beam or spar run out from the side of a vessel to help in securing the masts or from a mast to be used in extending a rope or sail. (noun)
• Nautical A long thin float attached parallel to a seagoing canoe by projecting spars as a means of preventing it from capsizing. (noun)
• Nautical A vessel fitted with such a float or beam. (noun)
• Nautical A support for an oarlock projecting from the side of a racing shell. (noun)
• Nautical A racing shell fitted with such a support. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The larger sort do not require what we may call the outrigger rowlocks."
• "This is prevented by an outrigger, which is formed of elastic rods of tough wood, which, being firmly bound together, project at right angles from the upper works."
• "Being so narrow it would have upset, but it had an outrigger, which is a plank, or log, as long as the boat, pointed at the fore end."