Brewer's: Spanker

(A). A fore-and-aft sail set upon the mizen-mast of a three-masted vessel, and the jigger-mast of a four-masted vessel. There is no spanker in a one- or two-masted vessel of any rig. A “spanker” used to be called a “driver.” (Supplied by an old sailor of long service.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
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