(a) A wrapped bundle containing clothing, laundry, etc., a parcel, traveler's pack; also, ?a bolt of cloth, cloth wound and fastened together in a roll [quots. c1436]; in ~, ?on the bolt; (b) a bound sheaf of harvested grains, etc.; a bundle of sticks, firewood, etc.; also, a quiver of arrows; (c) mil. a wad, pad, or roll of heavy material hung on a fortification to defend against a battering ram.

Naut. (a) A rope, line, cord, etc. serving as part of a ship's rigging, prob. to hold a sail to a mast or to furl or unfurl sails; (b) in cpds. & combs.: ~ line (rop), a rope serving as a truss; ~ pareil, a rope used as a parrel; ~ puli, a pulley attached to a truss, prob. a device for raising and lowering a sail [see also puli n. (b)]; fore ~, a rope attached to the foreyard; main ~ (pareil, a rope or parrel attached to the mainsail [cp. main adj. 3.]; mesan ~, a rope attached to the mizzen sail.

Glossing AL ansea [?read: ansa]: ?a coupling for attaching curtains, a curtain ring [cp. sense 2.(b)]; ?an architectural brace, a truss [some other word may be intended; the sense of the L word is not established].

In surnames.