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Reef
01
a ridge of rock or a line of sand near the surface of a body of water
Grammatical Information
Animacy status
Inanimate
Composition
Simple
Countable
Plural form
reefs
Examples
The boat sailed carefully to avoid hitting the reef.
02
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
03
a rocky region in the southern Transvaal in northeastern South Africa; contains rich gold deposits and coal and manganese
to reef
01
roll up (a portion of a sail) in order to reduce its area
Grammatical Information
Composition
Simple
Action verb
Regular
Present tense
reef
3rd person singular
reefs
Present participle
reefing
Past simple
reefed
Past participle
reefed
02
reduce (a sail) by taking in a reef
03
lower and bring partially inboard
Lexical Tree
reefy
reef
