sheer vs topsail

sheer

noun
  • An abrupt swerve from the course of a ship. 

  • A sheer curtain or fabric. 

  • The curve of the main deck or gunwale from bow to stern. 

adj
  • Used to emphasize the amount or degree of something. 

  • Very steep; almost vertical or perpendicular. 

  • Downright; complete; pure. 

  • Very thin or transparent. 

verb
  • To swerve from a course. 

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 sheer and topsail occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )