Dictionary


back•stay



Pronunciation: (bak'stā"), [key]
—n.
1. Mach.a supporting or checking piece in a mechanism.
2. Building Trades.an anchored tension member, as a cable, permanently or temporarily supporting a compression member, as a tower or pole, subject to a pull above its base from the opposite direction.
3. a strip of leather at the back of a shoe used for reinforcement and sometimes to connect the quarters.

back•stay



Pronunciation: (bak'stā"), [key]
—n.
Naut.any of various shrouds forming part of a vessel's standing rigging and leading aft from masts above a lower mast to the sides or stern of the vessel in order to reinforce the masts against forward pull.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

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