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tack

Nautical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

The lower forward corner of a sail, or the act of sailing into the wind by a zigzag course.

Detailed Definition
As both a sail-corner and a maneuver, tack embodies the cunning required to progress against adversity. In poetry, "to tack" is to change direction not out of indecision but out of strategic wisdom, moving obliquely toward a goal when a direct path is impossible. The tack also refers to the hard, windward edge of the sail, a point of maximum tension and strain. This duality makes it a favorite for poems about resilience, adaptive intelligence, and the serpentine paths of ambition or love that cannot be achieved by frontal assault but must be won through patience and indirection.
Example
Example in poetry:
The tack in poetry embodies the cunning required to progress against adversity.; To “tack” is to change direction not out of indecision but out of strategic wisdom, moving obliquely toward a goal.; The tack also refers to the hard, windward edge of the sail, a point of maximum tension and strain.; Poets use the tack to discuss resilience, adaptive intelligence, and the serpentine paths of ambition.; The tack is the lower forward corner of a sail, or the act of sailing into the wind by a zigzag course.; It represents the art of yielding to make progress.
Additional Notes
A tack is the lower forward corner of a sail, and also the act of sailing into the wind by a zigzag course. In poetry, this duality is key: the tack embodies the cunning required to progress against adversity. To "tack" is to change direction not out of indecision but out of strategic wisdom, moving obliquely toward a goal when a direct path is impossible. The tack is a point of maximum tension and strain, a symbol of resilience, adaptive intelligence, and the serpentine paths of ambition that cannot be achieved by frontal assault but must be won through patience and indirection.
Other Meanings of “tack”
Also Known As
Tackle (confused) course zigzag stitch push-pin
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