reef

PRIMARY MEANINGS OF: reef

1	n	a submerged ridge of rock or coral near the surface of the water
2	n v	one of several strips across a sail that can be taken in or rolled up to lessen the area of the sail that is exposed to the wind roll up (a portion of a sail) in order to reduce its area

FULL DEFINITIONS OF: reef

Examples:: show 5 examples...; hide 5 examples...; Bikini
an atoll in the Marshall Islands; formerly used by the United States as a site for testing nuclear weapons; Eniwetok
an atoll in the Marshall Islands; site of an amphibious assault in World War II; later used temporarily by the United States to test atomic bombs; Kwajalein
an atoll in the western Marshall Islands that was used as a Japanese air and naval base during World War II; Midway Islands
an atoll in the Hawaiian Islands some 1300 miles to the northwest of Honolulu; site of an important United States naval base; Great Barrier Reef
the largest coral reef in the world; in the Coral Sea off the northeastern coast of Australia

Types:: show 4 types...; hide 4 types...; coral reef
a reef consisting of coral consolidated into limestone; atoll
an island consisting of a circular coral reef surrounding a lagoon; barrier reef
a long coral reef near and parallel to the shore; Florida key, cay, key
a coral reef off the southern coast of Florida

Type of:: slip, strip
artifact consisting of a narrow flat piece of material

“reef the sailboat's mast”

Type of:: bring down, get down, let down, lower, take down
move something or somebody to a lower position

Launch

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