From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
Reef \Reef\, verb (used with an object) [imp. & p. p. {Reefed} (r[=e]ft); p. pr. & vb. n. {Reefing}.] (Naut.) To reduce the extent of (as a sail) by rolling or folding a certain portion of it and making it fast to the yard or spar. --Totten.
{To reef the paddles}, to move the floats of a paddle wheel toward its center so that they will not dip so deeply.
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