To reef something, means to “tug hard” or “push vigorously,” as you might with a window that’s stuck. It comes from the sailing term reef, which refers to an action used to make a sail smaller. This is part of a complete episode. Transcript of...
reef v.— «So I reefed on it, and he reefed back. There was a lot of reefing. He was surprisingly strong, and was pulling against my banged-up left hand with all his fury, and I was mortified to discover I was spending a Friday night wrestling with...
reef v.— «The suspension seems very stiff to me…and the adjuster turns with no resistance, about 4 or 5 turns, then seems to bottom out and not turn any firther (I haven’t tried really reefing on it yet…I don’t want to wreck anything on this...
reef v.— «Babe Zaharias is a dark brown filly with a pauper’s life-time earnings. She stood in box No.76 reefing at the leads that held her head up and away from the straw.» —“Bold Ha Ha fails champion test” by Patrick Smith Australian Oct. 18...
reef v.— «I failed to understand it a bit later, when I hooked the bottom of the lake. To me, reefing and reefing and reefing on my Very Expensive graphite rod was fairly serious business. To her, it was a good belly laugh. Especially when I reefed...
reef v.— «Son of Briartic started cranking his head sideways during the stretch run. “All those people were there.…But I was reefing on him. He responded well.”» —“It was all hollering and hoots for Souter” by Beverley Smith Globe and...