Definition of "mainyard" [mainyard]

• The yard of the mainmast, from which the mainsail is hung (noun)

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• "Amyas fought with her a whole day, and shot away her mainyard; how the Spaniard blundered down the coast of Wales, not knowing whither he went; how they were both nearly lost on Holyhead, and again on"
• "And what was that line of dark objects dangling along the mainyard? —"
• "The mainyard, an immense affair nearly a hundred feet long, was formed of many pieces of wood and bamboo bound together with rattans in an ingenious manner."