A nautical fitting consisting of a long wooden or metal block with holes through which ropes pass, used to adjust sails on a ship.
Possibly from Dutch 'eufreuw' or a similar nautical term; the exact origin is uncertain, but it dates to maritime terminology from the 17th-18th centuries.
This quirky nautical gadget has one of the most unusual names in maritime vocabulary—sailors used it to rig their sails, and its strange name has baffled landlubbers for centuries!
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