[ noun ] a sailing vessel with a single mast set about one third of the boat's length aft of the bow <noun.artifact>
Sloop \Sloop\, n.[D. sloep, of uncertain origin. Cf. {Shallop}.] 1. (Naut.) A vessel having one mast and fore-and-aft rig, consisting of a boom-and-gaff mainsail, jibs, staysail, and gaff topsail. The typical sloop has a fixed bowsprit, topmast, and standing rigging, while those of a cutter are capable of being readily shifted. The sloop usually carries a centerboard, and depends for stability upon breadth of beam rather than depth of keel. The two types have rapidly approximated since 1880. One radical distinction is that a sloop may carry a centerboard. See {Cutter}, and Illustration in Appendix.
2. (Naut.) In modern usage, a sailing vessel having one mast, commonly with a Bermuda rig, with either a center-board or a keel. In the United States, a sloop may have one or two headsails, while in Western Europe and Great Britain a sloop has only one headsail. [RDH]
{Sloop of war}, formerly, a vessel of war rigged either as a ship, brig, or schooner, and mounting from ten to thirty-two guns; now, any war vessel larger than a gunboat, and carrying guns on one deck only.
Mr. Ingram, 47 years old, expects to go out of state to buy the 50-foot sloop he will need for the voyage.
Sixty-seven others aboard the unnamed 45-foot sailing sloop were rescued after it sank Tuesday afternoon, the Bahamian government said.
Its J/24 class, a 24-foot fiberglass racing-cruising sloop, is one of the world's most popular medium-sized yachts.
"We have met the enemy and they are ours: two ships, two brigs, one schooner and one sloop," Perry reported to his superiors.
The sloop tried to enter shallow waters and the patrol boat pursued, catching up to the vessel and taking it under tow, according to the statement.