Definition of "lying-to" [lying-to]

• See to lie to, under lie. (noun)

The Century Dictionary (Public Domain)

• "She was probably lying-to ahead of them, perhaps between them and the land; and when, a little after midnight, the wind chopped up to the west, and blew stiffly till day break, they felt sure that, unless she had attempted the desperate expedient of running past them, they had her safe in the mouth of the Bristol"
• "Here and there upon the sea, a black speck marked a herring-boat, drifting with its line of nets; and right off the mouth of the glen, Amyas saw, with a beating heart, a large two-masted vessel lying-to — that must be the “Portugal”!"
• "Every man lying-to at his work, with a will that had all his heart and soul in it."