Spoomed

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Moved along quickly over water with sails set, driven forward by a strong wind from behind the vessel
2. Ran before a gale under full canvas, carried rapidly ahead by wind pushing from the stern
3. Advanced swiftly across the sea in the direction the wind was blowing, with the ship running before it

Etymology: "Spoomed" is the past tense of "spoom," a verb meaning to run before a strong wind, typically with sails set and a ship driven forward by a gale. The verb is probably a variant of "spume," the old word for foam, and the link is easy to picture: a vessel racing before a storm throws up white spray and churns the sea into froth. The connection to foam explains the sense. A ship that is spooming is not steering into the waves but being carried along on top of them, leaving a trail of spume behind it, so the word describes the motion of the sea as much as the ship's course.