TO VEER and HAUL, to pull a rope tight, by drawing it in and slackening it alternately, till the body to which it is applied acquires an additional motion, like the increased vibrations of a pendulum, so that the rope is strained to a greater tension with more facility and dispatch. This method is particularly used in hauling the bowlines.
The wind is said to veer and haul when it alters its direction, and becomes more or less fair. Thus it is said to veer aft and to haul forward.