Definition of "halyard" [hal•yard]

• Nautical A rope used to raise or lower a sail, flag, or yard. (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 word halyard became familiar to him and connected itself definitely with certain ropes."
• "Down comes the jib and the man standing by the fore topsail halyard, which is on the weather side of the galley, is drenched by the crests of two big seas which come over the rail."
• "Advertising signs should not be fastened to a staff or halyard from which the flag is flown."