1. (n.) A strip of wood or iron fastened on transversely to something in order to give strength, prevent warping, hold position, etc.
2. (n.) A device made of wood or metal, having two arms, around which turns may be taken with a line or rope so as to hold securely and yet be readily released. It is bolted by the middle to a deck or mast, etc., or it may be lashed to a rope.
3. (v. t.) To strengthen with a cleat.
Thesaurus Entries
Ciceronian, Demosthenian, Demosthenic, Tullian, accouple, accumulate, adjust, agglutinate, amass, apprehensible, assemble, associate, audible, band, batten, batten down, bolt, bond, bracket, breathe, bridge, bridge over, buckle, butt, button, cement, chain, chime, chorus, clap together, clasp, clear, cleat, clip, cognizable, collect, combine, come out with, communicate, comprehensible, comprise, concatenate, conglobulate, conjoin, conjugate, connect, contrastive, convey, coordinate, copulate, couple, cover, definite, deliver, disclose, distinct, distinctive, dovetail, easily understood, easy to understand, eloquent, embrace, emit, encompass, enunciate, exoteric, express, facund, fathomable, felicitous, fling off, fluent, formulate, free-speaking, free-spoken, garrulous, gather, give, give expression, give out with, give tongue, give utterance, give voice, glib, glue, harmonize, hasp, hearable, hi-fi, high-fidelity, hinge, hitch, hook, impart, include, intelligible, jam, join, joint, jointed, knot, knowable, latch, lay together, league, let out, link, lip, lock, loud-speaking, loud-spoken, lump together, marry, marshal, mass, meaningful, merge, methodize, miter, mobilize, mortise, nail, oral, order, organize, out with, outspoken, pair, peg, penetrable, phonate, phrase, piece together, pin, plain, plain-speaking, plain-spoken, plumbable, pour forth, prehensible, present, prolix, pronounce, put forth, put in words, put together, rabbet, raise, readable, regulate, relate, rivet, roll into one, say, scarf, screw, scrutable, set forth, sew, significant, silver, silver-tongued, skewer, slick, smooth, smooth-spoken, smooth-tongued, snap, soft-speaking, soft-spoken, solder, sonant, sound, span, speaking, spellbinding, splice, spoken, staple, stick, stick together, stitch, systematize, tack, take in, talkative, talking, tape, tell, throw off, tie, toggle, true-speaking, understandable, unify, unite, utter, venting, verbalize, viva voce, vocalize, voice, voiced, wedge, weld, well-spoken, whisper, word, yoke, zipper
