reef vs topsail

reef

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

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

  • A reef knot. 

  • The itch; any eruptive skin disorder. 

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

  • Dandruff. 

verb
  • To take in part of a sail in order to adapt the size of the sail to the force of the wind. 

  • To pull or yank strongly, especially in relation to horse riding. 

  • To move the floats of a paddle wheel toward its center so that they will not dip so deeply. 

  • To manipulate the lining of a person's pocket in order to steal the contents unnoticed. 

adj
  • Scabby; scurvy. 

topsail

noun
  • In a fore-and-aft-rigged sailing boat, the sail that is set above the gaff at the top part of the mast. 

  • A sail or either of the two sails rigged just above the course sail and supported by the topmast on a square-rigged sailing ship. 

How often have the words reef and topsail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )