Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

main-truck

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.54 in modern English

Syllables: main-truck
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

On a wooden mast, a circular disc (or sometimes a rectangle) of wood near or at the top of the mast, usually with holes or sheaves to reeve signal halyards; also a temporary or emergency place for a lookout.

Example Sentences

"But oh! shipmates! on the starboard hand of every woe, there is a sure delight; and higher the top of that delight, than the bottom of the woe is deep. Is not the main-truck higher than the kelson is low?"
"I told him about everything I could think of; and what I couldn't think of he did. He asked about six questions during my yarn, but every question had a point to it. At the end he bowed and thanked me once more. As a thanker he was main-truck high; I never see anybody so polite."

Etymology

"Main" refers to the mainmast, whereas a truck on another mast may be called (on the mizzenmast, for example) "mizzen-truck".

Inflected Forms

main-trucks (plural)

Phrases

crow's nest

Frequently Paired Words

crow's nest mast mainmast truck

Questions

What does main-truck mean?: On a wooden mast, a circular disc (or sometimes a rectangle) of wood near or at the top of the mast, usually with holes or sheaves to reeve signal halyards; also a temporary or emergency place for a lookout.
Where does main-truck come from?: "Main" refers to the mainmast, whereas a truck on another mast may be called (on the mizzenmast, for example) "mizzen-truck".

How to pronounce main-truck

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