f a Ship, a long piece of timber suspended upon the masts, to extend the sails to the wind. All yards are either square or lateen; the former of which are suspended across the masts at right angles, and the latter obliquely. The square yards are nearly of a cylindrical surface. They taper from the middle, which is called the slings, towards the extremities, which are termed the yard-arms; and the distance between the slings and the yard-arms on each side is by the artificers divided into quarters, which are distinguished into the first, second, third quarters, and yard-arms. The middle quarters are formed into eight squares, and each of the end parts is figured like the frustum of a cone. All the yards of a ship are square except that of the mizen.

Yards also denote places belonging to the navy, where the ships of war, &c., are laid up in harbour. See Docks.