What does "brail" mean?

Brail: pl. (Naut.) Ropes passing through pulleys, and used to haul in or up the leeches, bottoms, or corners of sails, preparatory to furling.

Additional senses

  1. 2.A stock at each end of a seine to keep it stretched.
  2. 3.To haul up by the brails; -- used with up; as, to brail up a sail.

Sources