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What is the difference between course and tack?

course | tack |

In context|nautical|lang=en terms the difference between course and tack

is that course is (nautical) the lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast while tack is (nautical) to maneuver a sailing vessel so that its bow turns through the wind, ie the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other.

As nouns the difference between course and tack

is that course is a path, sequence, development, or evolution while tack is a small nail with a flat head.

As verbs the difference between course and tack

is that course is to run or flow (especially of liquids and more particularly blood) while tack is to nail with a tack (small nail with a flat head).

As a adverb course

is (colloquial).

course

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A sequence of events.
  • # A normal or customary sequence.
  • #* Shakespeare
  • The course of true love never did run smooth.
  • #* Milton
  • Day and night, / Seedtime and harvest, heat and hoary frost, / Shall hold their course .
  • # A programme, a chosen manner of proceeding.
  • # Any ordered process or sequence or steps.
  • # A learning program, as in a school.
  • #* 1661 , , The Life of the most learned, reverend and pious Dr. H. Hammond
  • During the whole time of his abode in the university he generally spent thirteen hours of the day in study; by which assiduity besides an exact dispatch of the whole course of philosophy, he read over in a manner all classic authors that are extant
  • #* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= The attack of the MOOCs , passage=Since the launch early last year of […] two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses , the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations. University brands built in some cases over centuries have been forced to contemplate the possibility that information technology will rapidly make their existing business model obsolete.}}
  • # A treatment plan.
  • # A stage of a meal.
  • # The succession of one to another in office or duty; order; turn.
  • #* Bible, 2 Chron. viii. 14
  • He appointed the courses of the priests.
  • A path that something or someone moves along.
  • # The itinerary of a race.
  • # A racecourse.
  • # The path taken by a flow of water; a watercourse.
  • # (sports) The trajectory of a ball, frisbee etc.
  • # (golf) A golf course.
  • # (nautical) The direction of movement of a vessel at any given moment.
  • # (navigation) The intended passage of voyage, such as a boat, ship, airplane, spaceship, etc.
  • (nautical) The lowest square sail in a fully rigged mast, often named according to the mast.
  • .
  • A row or file of objects.
  • # (masonry) A row of bricks or blocks.
  • # (roofing) A row of material that forms the roofing, waterproofing or flashing system.
  • # (textiles) In weft knitting, a single row of loops connecting the loops of the preceding and following rows.
  • (music) A string on a lute.
  • (music) A pair of strings played together in some musical instruments, like the vihuela.
  • Derived terms

    * bird course * courseless * courselike * crash course * due course * let nature take its course * massive open online course (MOOC) * of course * off course * on course

    Verb

  • To run or flow (especially of liquids and more particularly blood).
  • The oil coursed through the engine.
    Blood pumped around the human body courses throughout all its veins and arteries.
  • * 2013 , Martina Hyde, Is the pope Catholic?'' (in ''The Guardian , 20 September 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/20/is-pope-catholic-atheists-gay-people-abortion]
  • He is a South American, so perhaps revolutionary spirit courses through Francis's veins. But what, pray, does the Catholic church want with doubt?
  • To run through or over.
  • * Alexander Pope
  • The bounding steed courses the dusty plain.
  • To pursue by tracking or estimating the course taken by one's prey; to follow or chase after.
  • * Shakespeare
  • We coursed him at the heels.
  • To cause to chase after or pursue game.
  • to course greyhounds after deer

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (colloquial)
  • Statistics

    *

    Anagrams

    * * 1000 English basic words ----

    tack

    English

    Etymology 1

    From , probably from a (etyl) source.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A small nail with a flat head.
  • * 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
  • A tough test for even the strongest climber, it was new to the Tour de France this year, but its debut will be remembered for the wrong reasons after one of those spectators scattered carpet tacks on the road and induced around 30 punctures among the group of riders including Bradley Wiggins, the Tour's overall leader, and his chief rivals.
  • A thumbtack.
  • (sewing) A loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth.
  • (nautical) The lower corner on the leading edge of a sail relative to the direction of the wind.
  • (nautical) A course or heading that enables a sailing vessel to head upwind. See also reach, gybe.
  • A direction or course of action, especially a new one.
  • * 1994 , Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom , Abacus 2010, p. 637:
  • I thought that my refusing Barnard would alienate Botha, and decided that such a tack was too risky.
  • (nautical) The maneuver by which a sailing vessel turns its bow through the wind so that the wind changes from one side to the other.
  • (nautical) The distance a sailing vessel runs between these maneuvers when working to windward; a board.
  • (nautical) A rope used to hold in place the foremost lower corners of the courses when the vessel is close-hauled; also, a rope employed to pull the lower corner of a studding sail to the boom.
  • Any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack .
  • (manufacturing, construction, chemistry) The stickiness of a compound, related to its cohesive and adhesive properties.
  • The laminate adhesive has very aggressive tack and is hard to move once in place.
  • Hardtack.
  • * 1913 , D. H. Lawrence, "Sons and Lovers":
  • "But if a woman's got nothing but her fair fame to feed on, why, it's thin tack , and a donkey would die of it!"
  • That which is attached; a supplement; an appendix.
  • * Bishop Burnet
  • Some tacks had been made to money bills in King Charles's time.
    (Macaulay)
  • (legal, Scotland) A contract by which the use of a thing is set, or let, for hire; a lease.
  • (Burrill)
  • (obsolete) Confidence; reliance.
  • (Halliwell)
    Synonyms
    * (nautical maneuver) coming about
    Hyponyms
    * (nail-like object for affixing thin things) thumbtack
    Derived terms
    * Blu-Tack * hardtack * thumbtack

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To nail with a tack (small nail with a flat head).
  • To sew/stich with a tack (loose seam used to temporarily fasten pieces of cloth).
  • (nautical) To maneuver a sailing vessel so that its bow turns through the wind, i.e. the wind changes from one side of the vessel to the other.
  • To add something as an extra item.
  • to tack (something) onto (something)
  • Often paired with "up", to place the tack on a horse.
  • Synonyms
    * to change tack
    Antonyms
    * to wear

    See also

    * * Blu-Tack

    Etymology 2

    From an old or dialectal form of (etyl) tache. See techy.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A stain; a tache.
  • (obsolete) A peculiar flavour or taint.
  • (Drayton)
    ----