crosstree

English

Etymology

cross +‎ tree

Noun

crosstree (plural crosstrees)

(nautical) A light timber or metal spreader fixed athwartships part way up a mast to spread the shrouds from higher up
- 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 35
  Your most usual point of perch is the head of the t’ gallant-mast, where you stand upon two thin parallel sticks (almost peculiar to whalemen) called the t’ gallant crosstrees.

Translations

a light timber to spread the shrouds

Dutch: zaling (nl) m
Finnish: saalinki

Russian: са́линг (ru) m (sáling)

Anagrams

rectoress, secretors

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