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plural taffrails
(nautical) The curved wooden top of the stern of a sailing man-of-war or East Indiaman, usually carved or decorated. examples
(nautical) The rail around the stern of a ship. quotations examples
One evening, leaning over the taffrail, I observed a very singular, isolated cloud, to the N.W.
1833, Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle
[…] with heavy, lumber-like pace he was measuring the ship from taffrail to mainmast […]
1851, Herman Melville, chapter 29, in Moby-Dick
(nautical) The deck area at the stern of a vessel. examples