reef

CEFRB1

/ɹiːf/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A line of rocks or coral near the sea surface.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A large vein of auriferous quartz; hence, any body of rock yielding valuable ore.

Examples

  • I went snorkeling in a beautiful coral reef.

  • The ship was wrecked on a sunken reef.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
5

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A portion of a sail rolled and tied down to lessen the area exposed in a high wind.

  2. A chain or range of rocks, sand, or coral lying at or near the surface of the water.

  3. A reef knot.

More examples

In context

  • 1970 July–December, Margaret Quilty, Roller Reefing Made Easy, Boating, page 63, Be sure the blocks are securely mounted—they carry a fairish load when the sail is reefed. If both reefing line and main halyard are led to the cockpit, even singlehanded reefing...

  • This was done by "reefing." He put two fingers just inside the opening and lifted the lining a trifle. Although I watched his hands, I could feel nothing, so gently did his fingers work. Reefing a couple of times, he lifted my handkerchief, as he might have t...

  • Reef the paddles.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

During the trip, the diver explored a colorful coral blank teeming with many fish.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

From earlier riff, from Middle English rif, from Old Norse rif (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”). Dutch rif (“reef”), Low German riff, reff (“reef”), German Riff (“reef, ledge”) are also borrowed from Old Norse. Doublet of rib.