Emily Dickinson Lexicon

GAFF, n. [Ir. gaf, a hook; Sp. and Port. gafa; Shemitic כפף, כפה, to bend.]

1. A harpoon.
2. A sort of boom or pole, used in small ships, to extend the upper edge of the mizzen, and of those sails whose foremost edge is joined to the mast by hoops or lacings, and which are extended by a boom below, as the main sail of a sloop. [Qu. Sax. geafle, a pole.] – Mar. Dict.