tack

n 1: the heading or position of a vessel relative to the trim of

its sails

2: a short nail with a sharp point and a large head

3: equipment for a horse [syn: {stable gear}, {saddlery}]

4: a line (rope or chain) that regulates the angle at which a

sail is set in relation to the wind [syn: {sheet}, {mainsheet},

{weather sheet}, {shroud}]

5: (nautical) the act of changing tack [syn: {tacking}]

6: sailing a zigzag course

v 1: fasten with tacks; "tack the notice on the board"

2: change direction [syn: {wear ship}]

ACK

1. /ak/ The {mnemonic} for the ACKnowledge

character, {ASCII} code 6.

2. A message transmitted to indicate that

some data has been received correctly. Typically, if the

sender does not receive the ACK message after some

predetermined time, or receives a {NAK}, the original data

will be sent again.

[{Jargon File}]

(1997-01-07)