f a Ship, a general name given to all the ropes employed to support the masts, and to extend or reduce the sails, or arrange them to the disposition of the wind. The former, which are used to sustain the masts, remain usually in a fixed position, and are called standing rigging; such are the shrouds, stays, and backstays. The latter, whose office is to manage the sails, by communicating with various blocks or pulleys situated in different parts of the masts, yards, shrouds, &c., are comprehended in the general term of running rigging. Such are the braces, sheets, halliards, clue-lines, and brails.