learn the ropes

learn the ropes (third-person singular simple present learns the ropes, present participle learning the ropes, simple past and past participle learned the ropes or learnt the ropes)

learns the ropes (present singular third-person)
learning the ropes (participle present)
learned the ropes (participle past)
learned the ropes (past)
learnt the ropes (participle past)
learnt the ropes (past)

/ˈlɜːn ðə ˈɹəʊps/

/ˈlɝn ðə ˈɹoʊps/

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-learn the ropes.wav

Of nautical origin: in the past, the phrase “he knows the ropes” written on a seaman’s discharge meant that he was inexperienced and familiar only with a ship’s principal ropes.

Work slowly and cautiously until you have learned the ropes.

When he [Abraham Lincoln] became President he was without any considerable experience in public affairs; nor was he much versed in history, whose lessons would have been most valuable. As he became more familiar with the place, his facility evidently increased. He had "learned the ropes," so he said.

1865 June 1, Charles Sumner, “Eulogy”, in Documents of the City of Boston, for the Year 1865, volume II (Containing Documents from No. 44 to No. 115, Inclusive), Boston, Mass.: J. E. Farwell and Company, […], published 1866, →OCLC, page 137:

He thinks he needs no education for that work; it is just as natural to him as it is to eat and drink; and he is ready at once to undertake the management of the largest retail house in town, only needing to be shown a day or two, "till he learns the ropes."

1869, Samuel H[ough] Terry, “Introductory”, in The Retailer’s Manual: Embodying the Conclusions of Thirty Years’ Experience in Merchandizing, Newark, N.J.: Printed for the author, by Jennings Brothers, →OCLC, page 16:

“[...] I am very ignorant in regard to your rules and usages here, but undoubtedly one can soon learn all the particulars.” / “O, yes,” rejoined Derby, with a smile, “one can soon ‘learn the ropes.’ [...]”

1869, [John Denison Vose], chapter XII, in The Gay Boys of Old Yale!: A Book of Wit and Humor. Showing the Scrapes & Escapes of College Life, and How the Boys “Go It” at New Haven, Hinsdale, N.H.: Hunter & Co., publishers, →OCLC, page 66:

Phil had "learned the ropes," so he showed us the principal points of interest aboard ship.

1886, Stephen F. Blanding, “On Board the Guardo”, in Recollections of a Sailor Boy: Or The Cruise of the Gunboat Louisiana, Providence, R.I.: E. A. Johnson & Co., […], →OCLC, page 37:

Evidently they know that failure to learn the ropes may preclude learning anything else. If the intern does not learn whom to consult and how to secure his help, he will not learn what the consulting physician can teach him about medicine.

1970, Stephen J. Miller, “Learning the Work of an Internship”, in Prescription for Leadership: Training for the Medical Elite (Observations), Chicago, Ill.: Aldine Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 124; reprinted as The Medical Elite: Training for Leadership, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, 2017, →ISBN, page 124:

Many of the appointees who have signed on to stay for the second term have indeed "learned the ropes" and in many cases now know how to work with career civil servants and engage them for maximum productivity.

2005, Mark A. Abramson, Paul R[oger] Lawrence, “The Biggest Secret in Washington”, in Mark A. Abramson, Paul R. Lawrence, editors, Learning the Ropes: Insights for Political Appointees, Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, pages 6–7:

It is still best to keep young riders out in the bush until they have learnt the ropes. Those old bush jockeys, they were men not boys. You learnt the tricks of the trade quick … If you rode two bad races they would crucify you[.]

2013, John Maynard, “Reg ‘Punter’ Hart”, in Aborigines and the ‘Sport of Kings’: Indigenous Jockeys in Australian Racing History, 3rd edition, Canberra, A.C.T.: Aboriginal Studies Press, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, →ISBN, part III (Ahead of the Field: More Indigenous Australian Jockeys), page 128:

[Blake] Beckford was diagnosed with a chronic bowel disease that left the lining of his colon covered in ulcers, cutting short any chance of his getting into the fitness industry just when he'd started working towards it. 'I was diagnosed at about 19, so I was still very much learning the ropes,' he says.

2014 October 8, Matt Huckle, “Is this Britain’s most inspirational fitness model?”, in The Daily Telegraph, London: Telegraph Media Group, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2015-10-11:

(originally nautical, informal) To learn the basics or master introductory knowledge.


winding

en-noun

winding (countable and uncountable, plural windings)

The noun is derived from Middle English winding, windinge, wyndynge (“directional change, curve, turn; bend of the leg at the knee; meandering course of a river; act of turning and twisting; twisting of things (especially thread) together; wrapping of a cloth around something; wattling of a structure; wattle(s); ornamentation with interwoven patterns; hoisting of something”) [and other forms], and then partly:
* from winden, wynden (“to go, move; to move forcefully or suddenly; to direct, guide, lead; to go along a meandering or twisting course; to move in a circular pattern, revolve, turn; to move restlessly, toss and turn; to wriggle free; to move with a turning or twisting motion, bend, turn, twist; to form or mould (something) in one’s hands; to mix together; to cover; to clothe, dress; to wrap (a baby, a corpse, etc.); to encircle, surround; to bind; to interlace; to winch; (figurative) to conceal, disguise; to embroil, involve”) + -ing, -inge (suffix forming gerund nouns, and the present participle forms of verbs).; and
* from Old English windung (“woven object”), from windan (“to twist, wind; to circle, curl, eddy, spiral”) (from Proto-Germanic *windaną (“to wind; to wrap”), from Proto-Indo-European *wendʰ- (“to turn; to wind”)) + -ung (suffix forming nouns denoting a verbal action or something involved in a verbal action).
The adjective is derived from the verb.
The English word is analysable as wind (“to turn coils of (a cord, etc.) around something; to encircle, enfold, entwist, wrap; to travel in a way that is not straight”) + -ing (suffix forming present participial adjectives and verbs, and nouns denoting an action or the embodiment of an action).

suffix

(British, nautical) The act or process of turning a boat or ship in a certain direction.


brig

desctree

→ French: brick
→ Romanian: bric
→ Ottoman Turkish: بریق (brik)
Turkish: brik

→ Irish: bruig

→ Portuguese: brigue

Abbreviated from brigantine, from Italian brigantino; in sense “jail”, from the use of such ships as prisons.

(nautical) A two-masted vessel, square-rigged on both foremast and mainmast


flank

From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankō (“bend, curve, hip, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible, sleek, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend”). Akin to Old High German hlanca (“loin”), Middle Low German lanke (“hip joint”) (German lenken (“to bend, turn, lead”)), Old English hlanc (“loose, slender, flaccid, lank”). More at lank.

cog

All ahead flank!

(US, nautical, of speed) Maximum. Historically faster than full speed (the most a vessel can sustain without excessive engine wear or risk of damage), now frequently used interchangeably. Typically used in an emergency or during an attack.


mutiny

en-noun

mutiny (countable and uncountable, plural mutinies)

In every mutiny against the discipline of the college, he was the ringleader.

1856 December, [Thomas Babington] Macaulay, “Samuel Johnson”, in T[homas] F[lower] E[llis], editor, The Miscellaneous Writings and Speeches of Lord Macaulay, new edition, London: Longman, Green, Reader, & Dyer, published 1871, →OCLC:

An organized rebellion against a legally constituted authority, especially by seamen against their officers.

Raise a mutiny betwixt yourselves.

1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:


mutiny

en-verb

mutiny (third-person singular simple present mutinies, present participle mutinying, simple past and past participle mutinied)

mutinies (present singular third-person)
mutinying (participle present)
mutinied (participle past)
mutinied (past)

The crew of the Bounty mutinied because of the harsh discipline of Captain Bligh.

In the long run, the High Seas Fleet would rarely emerge looking for a fleet action, and, indeed, would be withdrawn if it seemed that the Grand Fleet was out. In 1918, when faced with an order to sail against the British, who had now been augmented by the Sixth Battle Squadron, made up of American warships, the sailors of the High Seas Fleet mutinied instead.

2020 August 12, Drachinifel, 34:12 from the start, in The Battle of Jutland - Clash of the Titans - Part 3 (Aftermath, Outcome and Lessons), archived from the original on 2022-08-24:


dashboard

/ˈdæʃˌbɔː(ɹ)d/

/ˈdæʃˌboəɹd/

/ˈdæʃˌbɔːɹd/

From dash (“to sprinkle; to splatter”) + board for meaning 1. Possibly expanded meaning later.


square away

en-verb

square away (third-person singular simple present squares away, present participle squaring away, simple past and past participle squared away)

squares away (present singular third-person)
squaring away (participle present)
squared away (participle past)
squared away (past)

Accordingly, when the wheel was relieved at eight o'clock, the order was given to keep her due north, and all hands were turned up to square away the yards and make sail.

1969, Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast: Twenty-four Years After:

(nautical) To square the ship's yards to make her run before the wind, with the wind blowing straight from the stern.


limbo

en-noun

limbo (countable and uncountable, plural limbos or limboes)

The noun is derived from Middle English limbo, lymbo (“place where innocent souls exist temporarily until they can enter heaven”), from Latin limbō, the ablative singular of limbus (“border, edge; hem; fringe, tassel”) (notably in expressions like in limbō (“in limbo”) and e limbō (“out of limbo”)); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *lemb- (“to hang limply or loosely”), from Proto-Indo-European *leb- (“to hang down loosely (?)”). Doublet of limp.
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

(countable, military, nautical, weaponry) A type of antisubmarine mortar installed on naval vessels.


sentry

From earlier sentrie, sentery, of uncertain origin. Perhaps an alteration of sentinel or sanctuary; or perhaps from Old French senteret (“a path”), diminutive of sentier, from Medieval Latin semitarius (“a path”).

(nautical) A form of drag to be towed underwater, which on striking bottom is upset and rises to the surface.


dead weight

en-noun

dead weight (countable and uncountable, plural dead weights)

(nautical) The largest weight of cargo a ship is able to carry; i.e, the weight of a ship when fully loaded minus its weight when empty.


doghouse

During the slave trade, slaves were packed into every available niche aboard the slave ships, including the officers' cabins. The officers slept on deck in semi-cylindrical boxes, nicknamed "dog houses." The term "in the dog house" grew to describe being in a difficult situation due to the extreme discomfort of sleeping in these boxes.

1981, Charles Snelling, “Nomenclature of Ships”, in Naval Sea Systems Command publication:

(nautical) A difficult or demoralizing situation.


cut of one's jib

cut of one's jib (plural cut of their jibs or cuts of their jibs)

cut of their jibs (plural)
cuts of their jibs (plural)

From cut (“a way of shaping or styling”) and jib (“a triangular staysail set forward of the foremast”), originally a nautical expression alluding to the identification of far-off sailing vessels by the shape of their sails. The idiomatic sense may have been influenced by the similarity of a triangular jib sail to a person’s nose.

nb...

Containing a General and Biographical history of the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom; with a Variety of Original Papers on Nautical Subjects: Under the Guidance of Several Literary and Professional Men.

We have only farther to notice Meg's mode of conducting herself towards chance travellers, who, […] stumbled upon her house of entertainment. Her reception of these was as precarious as the hospitality of a savage nation to sailors shipwrecked on their coast. […] [I]f she disliked what the sailor calls the cut of their jibb—or if, above all, they were critical about their accommodations, none so likely as Meg to give them what in her country is called a sloan.

1823 December 23 (indicated as 1824), [Walter Scott], “An Old-world Landlady”, in St Ronan’s Well. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, pages 27–28:

About eleven o'clock, the captains who were to be our Minos and our Rhadamanthus, made their appearance, and we all agreed that we did not much like the "cut of their jibs."

1829, [Frederick Marryat], chapter V, in The Naval Officer; or, Scenes and Adventures in the Life of Frank Mildmay. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 132:

I axes you, because I see you're a sailor by the cut of your jib.

1833, [Frederick Marryat], chapter IV, in Peter Simple. […], volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], published 1834, →OCLC, page 20:

"You'll not know him from any one else," said Mrs Avenel. "Well, that is a good one! Not know an Avenel! We've all the same cut of the jib—have we not, father?"

1853, Pisistratus Caxton [pseudonym; Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter XXIII, in “My Novel”; Or Varieties in English Life […], volume I, Edinburgh; London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, book fourth, page 366:

I have seen that girl on the deck, and I like the cut of her jib. I like the way she walks. Her independence suits me.

1896, Robert Barr, chapter XIII, in A Woman Intervenes: Or The Mistress of the Mine, New York, N.Y., London: Frederick A[bbott] Stokes Company, →OCLC, page 122:

Jack thinks, by the cut of their jibs, they were Frenchmen, one an officer and the other his servant.

1911, John Oxenham [pseudonym; William Arthur Dunkerley], “An Unexpected Guest”, in The Coil of Carne, Toronto, Ont.: The Copp, Clark Co., →OCLC, page 157:

Mr Bloom watched her as she limped away. Poor girl! That's why she's left on the shelf and the others did a sprint. Thought something was wrong by the cut of her jib. Jilted beauty. A defect is ten times worse in a woman.

1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 13: Nausicaa]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 351:

We were drawn together from the first as young men will be: we liked the cuts of each other's jibs: we were both sailors (and there is only one sea-service in spite of the guns and gold-lace) and then the far distant dim relationship gave us the feeling that many of the barriers, of race and faith and custom, were down from between us.

1934, John Masefield, The Taking of the Gry, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 22:

"By the cut of their jibs I shall know them!" That's the way Ham Hamberger summed it up as he looked ahead to his coming battle employment, and speculated upon those with whom he would be called upon to serve—not knowing. And by the cut of their jibs he did know them when the time came, and they him, […]

1959, Ken Jones, “The Eagles Gather”, in Destroyer Squadron 23: Combat Exploits of Arleigh Burke’s Gallant Force, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: Book Division, Chilton Company, →OCLC, page 60:

Mr. Burns: Who's that goat-legged fellow? I like the cut of his jib. / Waylon Smithers: Uh, the Prince of Darkness, sir. He's your eleven o'clock.

1993, Conan O'Brien, Bill Oakley, Josh Weinstein, Greg Daniels, Dan McGrath, Bill Canterbury, Treehouse of Horror IV (The Simpsons), season 5, episode 5, spoken by Mr. Burns (Harry Shearer), 20th Century Fox:

"You don't like me much, do you?" / "Let's just say I don't like the cut of your jib, Mr. Tate."

2003 June, Ted Bell, chapter 42, in Hawke […], New York, N.Y.: Atria Books, →ISBN, page 277:

(idiomatic, dated) A person's general appearance, manner, or style.

tyyli

person’s general appearance, manner, or style


warp

en-noun

warp (countable and uncountable, plural warps)

From Middle English warp, werp, from Old English wearp, warp (“a warp, threads stretched lengthwise in a loom, twig, osier”), from Proto-Germanic *warpą (“a warp”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Middle Dutch warp, Middle Low German warp, German werfen, Danish varp, Swedish varp.

der

We finish’d the Raft that Night, and in the Morning sent Mr. Prat, our Chief Mate, and four Men in the Boat with a long Rope for a Warp, to fasten on the Land.

1743, Robert Drury, The Pleasant, and Surprizing Adventures of Mr. Robert Drury, during his Fifteen Years Captivity on the Island of Madagascar, London, pages 11–12:

[…] trailed one of my sea anchors or at least some warps in order to ease the ship […]

1966, Peter Tangvald, Sea Gypsy, page 24:

(nautical) A line or cable or rode as is used in warping (mooring or hauling) a ship, and sometimes for other purposes such as deploying a seine or creating drag.


warp

en-verb

warp (third-person singular simple present warps, present participle warping, simple past and past participle warped)

warps (present singular third-person)
warping (participle present)
warped (participle past)
warped (past)

→ Japanese: ワープ (wāpu)

From Middle English werpen, weorpen, worpen, from Old English weorpan (“to throw”), from Proto-Germanic *werpaną (“to throw, turn”), from Proto-Indo-European *werb- (“to bend, turn”). Cognate with Scots warp (“to throw, warp”), North Frisian werpen (“to throw”), Dutch werpen (“to throw, cast”), German werfen (“to throw, cast”), Icelandic verpa (“to throw”).

der

We had a dreary morning's work before us, for there was no sign of any wind, and the boats had to be got out and manned, and the ship warped three or four miles around the corner of the island.[…]

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

At slack tide, the crew warped the ship into the lock that lowered the vessel down to river height,

2011, Derek Lundy, The Way of a Ship: A Square-Rigger Voyage in the Last Days:

(transitive, nautical) To move a vessel by hauling on a line or cable that is fastened to an anchor or pier; (especially) to move a sailing ship through a restricted place such as a harbour.

Having all our boats out with anchors and warps in them, which were presently run out, the ship warped into safety, where we dropt anchor for the night.

1777, James Cook, A Voyage Towards the South Pole and Round the World:

A good anchorage was found at Tanna, and the ship warped close in.

2009, Arthur Kitson, The Life of Captain James Cook, page 148:

(intransitive, nautical, of a ship) To move or be moved by this method.

To move:
To move or be moved by this method.


flog a dead horse

en-verb

flog a dead horse (third-person singular simple present flogs a dead horse, present participle flogging a dead horse, simple past and past participle flogged a dead horse)

flogs a dead horse (present singular third-person)
flogging a dead horse (participle present)
flogged a dead horse (participle past)
flogged a dead horse (past)

(dated, nautical) To attempt to get extra work out of a ship's crew during the dead horse period.


pricker

(nautical) A small marlinespike used in sailmaking.


loggerhead

From logger (“(dialectal) heavy wooden block secured to a horse's leg to prevent it from straying”) + head. Logger was apparently coined because its sound connotes a clumsy, heavy object; compare log (“trunk of a dead tree; bulky piece of wood”).

compound

Not very far distant Flask's boat was also lying breathlessly still; its commander recklessly standing upon the top of the loggerhead, a stout sort of post rooted in the keel, and rising some two feet above the level of the stern platform. It is used for catching turns with the whale line. Its top is not more spacious than the palm of a man's hand, and standing upon such a base as that, Flask seemed perched at the mast-head of some ship which had sunk to all but her trucks. But little King-Post was small and short, and at the same time little King-Post was full of a large and tall ambition, so that this loggerhead stand-point of his did by no means satisfy King-Post.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “The First Lowering”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, pages 245–246:

(nautical) A post on a whaling boat used to secure the harpoon rope.


controller

/kənˈtɹəʊlə/

From Middle English countreroller, from Anglo-Norman contreroulour and Middle French contreroleur (French contrôleur), from Medieval Latin contrārotulātor, from *contrārotulāre (from which control). By surface analysis, control + -er.

(nautical) An iron block, usually bolted to a ship's deck, for controlling the running out of a chain cable. The links of the cable tend to drop into hollows in the block, and thus hold fast until disengaged.


footloose

en-adj

footloose (comparative more footloose, superlative most footloose)

more footloose (comparative)
most footloose (superlative)

(nautical) Of a sail: not properly secured at the bottom.


cat's-paw

en-noun

cat's-paw (plural cat's-paws or cats'-paws)

From cat + paw. In most senses, due to a resemblance of shape. In its senses as a pawn to another's interests or analysis, variant of earlier cat's-foot, derived from European tales of a monkey (attested as early as 1456 but sometimes misattributed to the 16th-century monkey of Pope Julius II) who used a sleeping puppy or cat's foot to rake hot chestnuts out of a fire, taken as a metaphor for rulers' ill use of their subjects. Now usually understood in light of Jean de La Fontaine's 1679 fable of the "The Monkey and the Cat" (sometimes misattributed to Aesop), in which the monkey fools the cat into removing the chestnuts through flattery and promises of shared reward. The cat removes the chestnuts one by one, burning his paw while the monkey eats each in turn. A maid then enters and chases them both away. La Fontaine's moral concludes that princes should not endure real losses for mere flattery from their king.

an unrelated metaphor from a separate story

pull someone's chestnuts out of the fire

Cats-paw, a light air of wind perceived... by the impression made on the surface of the sea, which it sweeps very lightly, and then decays.

1769, William Falconer, An Universal Dictionary of the Marine:

No, not a cat’s paw anywhere:
Hold up your finger in the air
You could n’t feel a breath;
For why, in yonder storm that burst,
The wind that blew so hard at first
Had blown itself to death.

“Now,” said Hands, “look there; there’s a pet bit for to beach a ship in. Fine flat sand, never a cat’s paw, trees all around of it, and flowers a-blowing like a garding on that old ship.”

There was very little wind, though now and again a catspaw hurrying from the south helped them on their way and darkened the smooth small waves.

1930, Arthur Ransome, Swallows and Amazons:

(nautical) A minor breeze that ripples the surface of a body of water.

...when the mate came to shake the catspaw out of the down-haul...

1840, Richard Henry Dana, chapter XXXIII, in Two Years Before the Mast, page 125:

(nautical) A twisting variant of the lark's-foot hitch which forms two small bights used to hook a pair of tackles to a rope.


bail out

en-verb

bail out (third-person singular simple present bails out, present participle bailing out, simple past and past participle bailed out)

bails out (present singular third-person)
bailing out (participle present)
bailed out (participle past)
bailed out (past)

But it passed, leaving us up to our knees in water. 'Bail out! bail out!' shouted Job, suiting the action to the word.

1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:

(transitive, nautical) To remove water from a boat by scooping it out.


tailwind

(nautical, physics) A wind that blows in the same direction as the course taken by an aircraft, sailing ship, bird, etc.

medvind

a wind that blows in the same direction as the course of an aircraft or ship


crib

en-noun

crib (countable and uncountable, plural cribs)

From Middle English crib, cribbe, from Old English crib, cryb, cribb, crybb (“couch, bed; manger, stall”), from Proto-West Germanic *kribbjā, from Proto-Germanic *kribjǭ (“crib, wickerwork”), from Proto-Indo-European *grebʰ-, *gerbʰ- (“bunch, bundle, tuft, clump”), from *ger- (“to turn, twist”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Kräbbe, Krääb, Krääf (“crib”), West Frisian krêbe (“crib”), Dutch krib (“crib, manger”), German Krippe (“rack, crib”), Danish krybbe (“crib”), Icelandic krubba (“crib”). Doublet of crèche. The sense of ‘stealing, taking notes, plagiarize’ seems to have developed out of the verb.
The criminal sense may derive from the 'basket' sense, circa the mid 18th century, in that a poacher could conceal poachings in such a basket (see the 1772 Samuel Foote quotation). The cheating sense probably derives from the criminal sense.

пищов

notes concealed by a student to aid him/her in test or examination

(nautical) A small sleeping berth in a packet ship or other small vessel


headwind

From Middle English *hedwind, from Old English hēafodwind, equivalent to head + wind. Cognate with Old Norse höfuðvindr.

(nautical, physics) A wind that blows directly against the course of a vehicle, like an aircraft, train, or ship.


transom

From Middle English traunsom; probably an alteration of Latin trānstrum (“crossbeam”).

a hinged glassed frame above such a crossbar

(nautical) Any of several transverse structural members in a ship, especially at the stern; a thwart.

(nautical) The flat or nearly flat stern of a boat or ship.


lay down

en-verb

lay down (third-person singular simple present lays down, present participle laying down, simple past and past participle laid down)

lays down (present singular third-person)
laying down (participle present)
laid down (participle past)
laid down (past)

From Middle English leyen doun, leien doun (“to lay down”), equivalent to lay + down.

(nautical, dated) To draw the lines of a ship's hull at full size, before starting a build.


drifter

In winds above 10 knots we usually run wing-and-wing with our 100 percent lapper set on a whisker pole opposite the mainsail. As the wind drops, we get out the drifter and set it flying to leeward (Fig. 1).

1995, Ken Textor, The New Book of Sail Trim, page 85:

After trying a variety of light-wind sails, we've found the most versatile and simple one to be a nylon drifter.

1999, Lin Pardey, Larry Pardey, Cost Conscious Cruiser: Champagne Cruising on a Beer Budget:

Some people recommend a medium- to lightweight 140- or 150-percent headsail, and others go for a drifter/reacher.

2000, Jim Howard, Charles J. Doane, Handbook of Offshore Cruising, page 178:

(nautical) A type of lightweight sail used in light winds like a spinnaker.


spill

spill (third-person singular simple present spills, present participle spilling, simple past and past participle spilled or spilt)

spills (present singular third-person)
spilling (participle present)
spilled (participle past)
spilled (past)
spilt (participle past)
spilt (past)

l-vocalizing: UK, General Australian, New Zealand

From Middle English spillen, from Old English spillan, spildan (“to kill, destroy, waste”), from Proto-West Germanic *spilþijan, from Proto-Germanic *spilþijaną (“to spoil, kill, murder”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to sunder, split, rend, tear”).
Cognate with Dutch spillen (“to use needlessly, waste”), French gaspiller ("to waste, squander" < Germanic), Bavarian spillen (“to split, cleave, splinter”), Danish spilde (“to spill, waste”), Swedish spilla (“to spill, waste”), Icelandic spilla (“to contaminate, spoil”).

cog

(nautical) To relieve a sail from the pressure of the wind, so that it can be more easily reefed or furled, or to lessen the strain.


summit

PIE word
 *upó
The noun is derived from Late Middle English somet, somete (“head, top”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman sumet and Middle French sommet (masculine), somete, sommette (“top of a thing; highest point of a mountain”) (feminine) (modern French sommet), from Old French somet, sommette, from som, sum (“highest point, summit”) + -et (suffix forming diminutive masculine nouns), -ete, -ette (suffix forming diminutive feminine nouns). Som, sum are derived from Latin summum (“top, summit”), a noun use of the neuter of summus (“greatest, highest; top, uppermost”, adjective) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *upó (“below, under”) + *-m̥mós, *-tm̥mós (“suffix forming superlative adjectives”)). The modern English spelling was influenced by summity (“height or top of a thing; utmost degree, perfection”) (obsolete).
The verb is derived from the noun.

der

The topmost point or surface of a thing; the apex, the peak.

(nautical, rail transport, road transport) The highest point of a canal, railway, road, etc.


inward

From Middle English inward, from Old English inweard, corresponding to in + -ward.


c/o

1976-1977, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure
Sunday I penned my letter, Monday I mailed it c/o the high school.

Anna c/o Bob ― Anna at Bob's address

Send your mail to me c/o Mr. John Smith.

“But he sent it to you, didn't he?” “No, he sent it to himself c/o me.”

(shipping) Abbreviation of care of, used to identify an intermediary who is responsible for transferring a piece of mail between the postal system and the final addressee.

p

(abbreviation) identifies intermediary in delivering mail — see also care of


c/o

certificate of origin
certificate of origin#English

(shipping) Initialism of certificate of origin, a document describing a product's country of origin.


bumboat

From Dutch bomschuit (“small fishing boat”) + boat.

(nautical) A small boat used for carrying provisions to ships lying at anchor in a harbour.

小販船

a small boat used for carrying provisions to ships


buoyage

en-noun

buoyage (countable and uncountable, plural buoyages)

(nautical) Any of several codes of practice under which buoys of various shapes and colours are used for the same navigational purpose.


burgoo

burgoo (countable and uncountable, plural burgoos)

goo

Of unclear origin. Apparently from the dialectal term burgood (“yeast”).
* Perhaps ultimately from Welsh burym (“yeast”) + cawl (“cabbage, gruel”),
* Or perhaps from Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul).
* Or, from an alteration of ragout.

(nautical) A dish which originated among seafarers during the days of sail: a sort of porridge seasoned with sugar, salt and butter.


burgee

A flag, usually a broad tapering pennant, often with a swallowtail, flown by yachts to identify the owner's yacht club.

guidone m (the usual translation of "club burgee" is "guidone sociale")


ducks

His spotless white ducks set tight about the hips, and hang loosely at the bottom, just allowing the tips of a pair of patent-leather pumps to peep out from beneath their ample breadth.

1856, Charles Nordhoff, Nine Years a Sailor:

(nautical) The light trousers worn by sailors in hot climates.


burthen

Old form of burden. Compare similar development in murder.

[...] and thence to Calstock, a town on the Tamar, which is washed by the sea flowing through Plymouth Sound and Hamoaze, and which place vessels of 200 tons burthen can reach at spring tides—[...].

1940 December, Charles E. Lee, “The Wenford Mineral Line”, in Railway Magazine, pages 647, from the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette, October 3, 1834:

(obsolete or historical, nautical) The tonnage of a ship based on the number of tuns of wine that it could carry in its holds.


bumpkin

From Dutch boomken (“shrub, little tree”), equivalent to boom + -kin. Note that the English word boom is etymologically related to the aforementioned in the sense of "large stem", or "big tree". Compare German Baumke, Bäumchen.

(nautical) A short boom or spar used to extend a sail or secure a stay.


quoin

(obsolete, nautical) A form of wedge used to prevent casks from moving


sea lane

(nautical) A regularly used route for ocean-going vessels.


doldrums

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

From obsolete doldrum (“slothful or stupid person”) plus the plural suffix -s. Doldrum is possibly derived from dull or Middle English dold (past participle of dullen, dollen (“to make or become blunt or dull; to make or become dull-witted or stupid; to make or become inactive”), from dul, dol, dolle (“not sharp, blunt, dull; not quick-witted, stupid; lethargic, sluggish”); see further at dull), modelled after tantrum.

[F]rom the bluff-head, where I watched to-day, / I saw her in the doldrums; for the wind / Was light and baffling.

1823, Lord Byron, “Canto II”, in The Island, or Christian and His Comrades, London: […] John Hunt, […], →OCLC, stanza XXII, page 44, lines 507–509:

(nautical) Usually preceded by the: the state of a sailing ship when it is impeded by calms or light, baffling winds, and is unable to make progress.

Flaute

Mr. Ralph Abercromby has made special observations on the upper wind currents over the equator in the Atlantic Ocean. [...] With respect to the general circulation of the atmosphere we know that the surface trades either die out at the doldrums or unite into one moderate east current; that the low and middle currents over the doldrums are very variable, but that the winds at these low and middle levels, 2,000 to 20,000 feet, come usually from the southeast over the northeast trade, and from the northeast over the southeast trade, and that the highest currents—over 20,000 feet—move from east over the doldrums, from southwest over the northeast trade, and from northwest over the southeast trade.

1890, George E. Curtis, “[General Appendix to the Smithsonian Report for 1889] Progress of Meteorology in 1889”, in Annual Report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, Showing the Operations, Expenditures, and Condition of the Institution to July, 1889, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, →OCLC, section VII (Winds and Ocean Currents; General Atmospheric Circulation), page 245:

Hurricanes are known to develop in the belt of doldrums in the southern North Atlantic Ocean and also in the western Caribbean Sea when the Pacific doldrum belt extends into that area. However, many tropical storms of the Gulf, Caribbean, and southern North Atlantic have not with certainty been traced to a place of origin, and it cannot be said with assurance that they do not develop occasionally in other areas.

1938, I[van] R[ay] Tannehill, “Places of Origin”, in The Hurricane: (Revised 1938) (United States Department of Agriculture Miscellaneous Publication; no. 197), Washington, D.C.: United States Government Printing Office, published February 1939, →OCLC, page 2, column 2:

[...] The High Encounter entered the doldrums near the equator, where the ship ended up in the captain's effort to avoid the British. Without wind to move the ship, The High Encounter waffled in the slow-moving sea.

2001, Douglas Berry, chapter 41, in A Ship Called Grace, Lincoln, Neb.: Writer’s Showcase, iUniverse, →ISBN, page 313:

(nautical, oceanography, by extension) Usually preceded by the: a part of the ocean near the equator where calms, squalls, and light, baffling winds are common.


plummet

From Middle English plommet (“ball of lead, plumb of a bob-line”), recorded since 1382, from Old French plommet or plomet, the diminutive of plom, plum (“lead, sounding lead”), from Latin plumbum (“lead”). The verb is first recorded in 1626, originally meaning “to fathom, take soundings", from the noun.

inh

I'le ſeeke him deeper than ere plummet ſounded, / And with him there lye mudded.

1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii], page 13, column 2:

Iudgement also will I lay to the line, and righteousnesse to the plummet: and the haile shall sweepe away the refuge of lyes, and the waters shall ouerflow the hiding place.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 28:17:

Each long black hair upon his head hung down as straight as any plummet line; […]

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, chapter 21, in The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:

And love was the plummet dropped down into the deeps of him where like had never gone.

1906 May–October, Jack London, chapter VI, in White Fang, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., published October 1906, →OCLC:

He told her then of his life since he had returned to the jungle—of how he had dropped like a plummet from a civilized Parisian to a savage Waziri warrior, and from there back to the brute that he had been raised.

1913 June–December, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Return of Tarzan, New York, N.Y.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg, published March 1915, →OCLC:

(archaic, nautical) A piece of lead attached to a line, used in sounding the depth of water; a plumb bob or a plumb line.


surge

From Middle English surgen, possibly from Middle French sourgir, from Old French surgir (“to rise, ride near the shore, arrive, land”), from Old Catalan surgir, from Latin surgō, contraction of surrigō, subrigō (“lift up, raise, erect; intransitive rise, arise, get up, spring up, grow, etc.”, transitive verb), from sub (“from below; up”) + regō (“to stretch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃réǵeti (“to straighten; right”), from the root *h₃reǵ-; see regent.

der

He that doubteth is like the surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed.

1901, Bible (American Standard Version), James i. 6

He flies aloft, and, with impetuous roar, / Pursues the foaming surges to the shore.

1697, Virgil, “Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:

(nautical) The swell or heave of the sea (FM 55-501).


surge

en-verb

surge (third-person singular simple present surges, present participle surging, simple past and past participle surged)

surges (present singular third-person)
surging (participle present)
surged (participle past)
surged (past)

(transitive, nautical) To slack off a line.


sit out

sit out (third-person singular simple present sits out, present participle sitting out, simple past and past participle sat out)

sits out (present singular third-person)
sitting out (participle present)
sat out (participle past)
sat out (past)

(nautical) To lean out to the windward side of a sailboat in order to counterbalance the effects of the wind on the sails.


bower

(nautical) A type of ship's anchor, carried at the bow.


rib

From Middle English rib, ribbe, from Old English ribb (“rib”), from Proto-West Germanic *ribi, from Proto-Germanic *ribją (“rib, reef”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ- (“arch, ceiling, cover”).
Cognate with Dutch rib (“rib”), Norwegian ribbe (“sparerib”), Norwegian ribben (“rib”), Low German ribbe (“rib”), German Rippe (“rib”), Old Norse rif (“rib, reef”), Serbo-Croatian rèbro (“rib”).
(wife or woman): In reference to the creation of Eve from Adam's rib in the Bible.

der

(nautical) Any of several curved members attached to a ship's keel and extending upward and outward to form the framework of the hull.


ama

(Received Pronunciation, General American) -ɑːmə

(nautical) The float on the outrigger of a proa or trimaran.


flare

→ Italian: flare

Origin unknown, first recorded in the mid 16th century, probably related to Latin flagrō (“I burn”). Norwegian flara (“to blaze; to flaunt in gaudy attire”) has a similar meaning, but the English word predates it. Possibly related to Middle High German vlederen (“to flutter”), represented by modern German flattern.
The noun is derived from the verb.

unknown

Origin unknown

ярка светлина

source of brightly burning light or intense heat

Stulp

widening of an object with otherwise roughly constant width

разкрояване

widening of the lower legs of trousers and jeans

A widening of an object with an otherwise roughly constant width.

(nautical) The increase in width of most ship hulls with increasing height above the waterline.


companionway

(nautical) A staircase or ladder from one deck to another on a ship.


lifeboat

I've got a watch that turns into a lifeboat

1971, Alice Cooper, Glen Buxton, Michael Bruce, Dennis Dunaway, Neal Smith (lyrics and music), “Halo of Flies”, in Killer, performed by Alice Cooper:

(nautical) A boat especially designed for saving the lives of shipwrecked people or people in distress at sea (either launched from the shore with a crew, or else carried on board a larger ship).

(science fiction) An emergency vehicle carried aboard a spaceship.


privateer

/ˌpɹaɪ.vəˈtɪə/

/ˌpɹaɪ.vəˈtɪɚ/

From private + -eer, probably after volunteer.

(historical) A privately owned warship that acted under a letter of marque to attack enemy merchant ships and take possession of their cargo.


toggle

Of uncertain origin. Possible alteration of tug (“to pull”) + -le

(nautical) A wooden or metal pin, short rod, crosspiece or similar, fixed transversely in the eye of a rope or chain to be secured to any other loop, ring, or bight, e.g. a sea painter to a lifeboat.

щифт

pin, short rod or similar securing a loop in a rope or chain


toggle

en-verb

toggle (third-person singular simple present toggles, present participle toggling, simple past and past participle toggled)

toggles (present singular third-person)
toggling (participle present)
toggled (participle past)
toggled (past)

(nautical, transitive) To fix like a toggle iron; to fix fast.


balloon sail

(nautical) A large, light foresail sometimes used instead of a jib.


jury-rig

jury-rig (third-person singular simple present jury-rigs, present participle jury-rigging, simple past and past participle jury-rigged)

jury-rigs (present singular third-person)
jury-rigging (participle present)
jury-rigged (participle past)
jury-rigged (past)

From jury (“for temporary use”, adjective) + rig.
The phrase 'jury-rigged' has been in use since at least 1788. The adjectival use of 'jury', in the sense of makeshift or temporary, has been said to date from at least 1616, when according to the 1933 edition of the Oxford English Dictionary|Oxford Dictionary of the English Language, it appeared in John Smith's A Description of New England. It appeared in Smith's more extensive The General History of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles published in 1624.
Two theories about the origin of this usage of 'jury-rig' are:
*A corruption of jury mast; i.e., a mast for the day, a temporary mast, being a spare used when the mast has been carried away. Borrowed from French jour: 'a day'.
*Borrowed from Latin adjutare: 'to aid'; via Old French ajurie: 'help' or 'relief'.

/ˈdʒʊə.ɹi ɹɪɡ/

/ˈdʒʊɹ.i ɹɪɡ/

/ˈdʒɛɹ.i ɹɪɡ/

(nautical, transitive) To build an improvised rigging or assembly from whichever materials are available.


jury-rig

/ˈdʒʊə.ɹi ɹɪɡ/

/ˈdʒʊɹ.i ɹɪɡ/

/ˈdʒɛɹ.i ɹɪɡ/


convoy

From Middle English, from Old French convoier, another form of conveier, from Medieval Latin convio (“to accompany on the way”), from Latin con- (“together”) + via (“way”).

der

(nautical) One or more merchant ships sailing in company to the same general destination under the protection of naval vessels.

պահականավախումբ

merchant ships sailing in company under the protection of naval vessels


grommet

From obsolete French gromette (“curb chain”) (modern spelling gourmette).

(nautical) A ring formed of a single strand of rope, laid in three times round, fastening the upper edge of a sail to its stay.


trim

en-verb

trim (third-person singular simple present trims, present participle trimming, simple past and past participle trimmed)

trims (present singular third-person)
trimming (participle present)
trimmed (participle past)
trimmed (past)

From Middle English trimen, trymen, trümen, from Old English trymman (“to make firm; strengthen”), from Proto-West Germanic *trummjan, from Proto-Germanic *trumjaną (“to make fast; strengthen”), from Proto-Germanic *trumaz (“firm; strong; sound”).

tasapainottaa

to modify the angle of a ship relative to the water

The captain made us trim the boat, and we got her to lie a little more evenly.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

(transitive, nautical, of a vessel) To modify the angle relative to the water by shifting cargo or ballast; to adjust for sailing; to assume, or cause to assume a certain position, or trim, in the water.

(transitive, nautical, of a vessel's sails) To modify the angle (of the sails) relative to the wind, especially to set them at the most advantageous angle.


trim

en-noun

trim (countable and uncountable, plural trims)

varustelutaso

the manner in which something is equipped

(nautical) The fore-and-aft angle of the vessel to the water, with reference to the cargo and ballast; the manner in which a vessel floats on the water, whether on an even keel or down by the head or stern.

(nautical) The arrangement of the sails with reference to the wind.

trimmi

arrangement of sails relative to the wind


trim

(nautical) In good order; properly managed or maintained.


escutcheon

/ɪˈskʌt͡ʃən/

From Middle English scochon, from Anglo-Norman escuchon, Old French escusson (French écusson), ultimately from Latin scutum (“shield”). Related to scutum, scute, scudo, escudo, and écu.

(nautical) The part of a ship's stern where its name is displayed.


tether

From Middle English tether, teder, from Old English *tēoder and/or Old Norse tjóðr ( > Danish tøjr, Swedish tjuder); both from Proto-Germanic *teudrą (“rope; cord; shaft”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dewtro-, from Proto-Indo-European *dew- (“to tie”), or from Proto-Indo-European *dewk- (“to pull”). Cognate with North German Tüder (“tether for binding the cattle”), Swedish tjuder (“tether for binding cattle”).

inh

(nautical, sailing) A strong rope or line that connects a sailor's safety harness to the boat's jackstay.

turvaköysi

nautical: line that connects safety harness to jackstay


full and by

We sailed full and by for quite a while before getting down to serious navigation.

(nautical) Keeping the sails full and steering by the wind.


irons

Alice steered the boat into the wind, so we were stuck in irons.


overhead

en-noun

overhead (countable and uncountable, plural overheads)

From Middle English owerheved, over-hed, over hede (adverb), from Old English oferhēafod (adverb), equivalent to over- + head. Compare German Low German overhoopt, överhoopt, German überhaupt.

computational overhead| digital overhead

(nautical) The ceiling of any enclosed space below decks in a vessel.


companion

From Middle English companion, from Old French compaignon (“companion”) (modern French compagnon), from Late Latin compāniōn- (nominative singular compāniō, whence French copain), from com- + pānis (literally, with + bread), a word first attested in the Frankish Lex Salica as a calque of a Germanic word, probably Frankish *galaibo, *gahlaibō (“messmate”, literally “with-bread”), from Proto-Germanic *gahlaibô. Compare also Old High German galeipo (“messmate”) and Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌷𐌻𐌰𐌹𐌱𐌰 (gahlaiba, “messmate”); and, for the semantics, compare Old Armenian ընկեր (ənker, “friend”, literally “messmate”). More at co-, loaf. Displaced native Old English ġefēra (literally “fellow traveler”). Doublet of company. Compare mate.

noncog

(nautical) The framework on the quarterdeck of a sailing ship through which daylight entered the cabins below.

(nautical) The covering of a hatchway on an upper deck which leads to the companionway; the stairs themselves.


salute

Borrowed from Latin salūtō (“to greet; to wish health to”), from salūs (“greeting, good health”), related to salvus (“safe”).

bor

(military, nautical) A discharge of cannon or similar arms, as a mark of honour or respect.


Optimist

(nautical) A small centreboard sailing dinghy designed to train and introduce young children into sailing.


TS

en-noun

TS (countable and uncountable, plural TSs or TSes)

(nautical) Initialism of turbine ship, a ship powered by a gas turbine or steam turbine engine.


predy

Unknown. Possibly from "make the ship ready".


F

Abbreviation.
# (stenoscript) Abbreviation of full, fully.
# (stenoscript) suffixes -full, -fully.

ng

<i class="Latn mention" lang="en">fully</i>.

(nautical) Abbreviation of fog, as in a ship's log.


genoa

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-genoa.wav

The more the backstay is tightened, the less the headstay will sag off to leeward, forming a rigid and more efficient arc along the luff of the genoa while beating to weather.

1982 January, Jerry Cartwright, “Cruising Seamanship”, in Motorboating & Sailing, volume 149, number 2, page 23:

(nautical) A staysail that resembles a jib but extends aft beyond the mast.


MAC

en-noun

MAC (countable and uncountable, plural MACs)

merchant aircraft carrier
w:merchant aircraft carrier

(military, nautical, aviation, historical) Initialism of merchant aircraft carrier.


overboard

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌbɔː(ɹ)d/

From Middle English overbord, overborde, equivalent to over- + board.

(nautical) Outside of a boat; in the water.


G

G (countable and uncountable, plural Gs)

Coordinate term: T

(nautical, historical) Initialism of grog. marked in the ship's books when a sailor took the daily rum ration


dutchman

From Dutchman. Attested mainly in the US from the late 19th century.

(nautical) Ellipsis of Flying Dutchman: a ghost ship


CG

guided missile cruiser
guided missile cruiser

(US, military, nautical) A guided missile cruiser.

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of coast guard.


flemish

The noun is an ellipsis of Flemish coil, so called because the technique of coiling rope in this manner began with sailors from Flanders.
The verb is from Flemish (“of or relating to Flanders”, adjective), from Flemish coil.

He really knew more of the ropes than half the mess did, though he had made no show; he could have managed to stow the mizen-royal in a squall by himself, if such had been now proper in his position; there were even two or three out-of-the-way knots, splices, and flemishes—practised by veteran A.B.'s alone, revealed to few, and only to be acquired with perfection in the studious solitude of the merchant service, with which Dick Diamond could be seen in sequestered corners to perplex raw hands of the waist or after-guard, he having singular instincts for that art—but some of which Harry could have explained in passing by.

1864, [George Cupples], “An Event for Mr. Harry Spencer”, in Captain Herbert: A Sea Story. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, page 38:

Frequently fancy Flemishes are made, for example, with a regular Flemish coil in the center and the rest of the line placed in various shapes about it but always so as to retain the appearance of a mat.

1940, “Deck Seamanship”, in The Bluejackets’ Manual: United States Navy, 10th edition, Annapolis, Md.: United States Naval Institute, →OCLC, pages 438–439:

A coiled, faked, or flemished down line is said to be laid up in coils, fakes, or flemishes.

1951, Edmund A. Gibson, Basic Seamanship and Navigation, New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Book Co., →OCLC, page 363:

(nautical) Short for Flemish coil (“a rope that has been arranged into a neat, flat spiral coil”).


flemish

en-verb

flemish (third-person singular simple present flemishes, present participle flemishing, simple past and past participle flemished)

flemishes (present singular third-person)
flemishing (participle present)
flemished (participle past)
flemished (past)

In about twenty minutes, after the messenger had been stowed away, the cables coiled in the tiers, and the ropes flemished down on deck, the captain made his appearance, and directed the first-lieutenant to send aft the newly impressed men.

1832, [Frederick Marryat], chapter XI, in Newton Forster; or, The Merchant Service. […], volume I, London: James Cochrane and Co., […], →OCLC, page 138:

When great neatness is desired a line is flemished down. Successive circles of the line are wrapped about each other with the free end at the center. When it is finished it looks like a mat and with an old piece of line can be used as one. […] If a line is flemished down and left on a deck for some time it will mark the deck as well as remain wet on the under side, and therefore deteriorate. On small boats lines are usually either coiled down or flemished down.

1943 November, “More on Marlinespike”, in Charles F[rederic] Chapman, editor, Motor Boating: The Yachtsman’s Magazine, volume 72, number 5, New York, N.Y.: Hearst Magazines, →OCLC, page 32, column 2:

The two Swedish sailors on deck, lounging and spitting into the water, seemed not to have been kept up to their duties, for paint work and bright work were far from brilliant, and the ropes were badly pointed and flemished.

1964, Catherine [Irvine] Gavin, “The Molly-O”, in The Fortress, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday & Company, →OCLC, page 26:

(transitive, nautical) Often followed by down: to arrange (a rope) into a neat, flat spiral coil.


cable-laid rope

en-noun

cable-laid rope (countable and uncountable, plural cable-laid ropes)

(nautical) A very thick rope used for tasks such as towing, made by twisting together three ordinary hawser-laid ropes.


hawser-laid rope

hawser-laid rope (plural hawser-laid ropes)

(nautical) normal rope in which three strands are laid up against the twist


cable ship

The land line was eight months later in its completion than was anticipated, but the fleet of cable ships, sent out by the British Australian Telegraph Company, arrived in Port Darwin at the date appointed by them: November 6th, 1871.

1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 134:

(nautical) a vessel fitted for laying and repairing submarine cables; it has a large roller built over the bows for paying out cable.


cabin

→ French: cabine (see there for further descendants)

→ Japanese: キャビン (kyabin)

→ Korean: 캐빈 (kaebin)

From Middle English caban, cabane, from Old French cabane, from Medieval Latin capanna (“a cabin”); see further etymology there. Doublet of cabana and cabane.

(rail transport, informal) A signal box.


T

T (countable and uncountable, plural Ts)

Coordinate term: G (“grog”)

(nautical, historical) Abbreviation of temperance; marked in the ship's books when a sailor chose money instead of the daily rum ration.


caboose

From French cambuse, from Middle Dutch kabuys, kabuis (Modern Dutch kombuis (“galley; kitchen”)). Cognate with Swedish kabyss.

(obsolete, nautical) A small galley or cookhouse on the deck of a small vessel.

On the second day out, while sailing moderately on our course in the Gulf Stream, a sudden squall of wind struck the ship from the SW. and knocked her completely on her beam-ends, stove one of our boats, entirely destroyed two others, and threw down the cambouse.

1821, Owen Chase, Narrative of the Most Extraordinary and Distressing Shipwreck of the Whale-Ship Essex …:

This stove is to be made in the form of a Franklin, but is to be furnished with an oven, and other means of cooking; its appearance is therefore more like that of the old fashioned caboose, than of a Franklin stove.

1841, Journal of the Franklin Institute, page 113:

A tremendous billow, fringed with foam, swept over our deck, carrying the cook's caboose, cooking utensils and stove right overboard into the sea.

1881, Eliza Davies, The Story of an Earnest Life, page 226:

The kitchens were kept separate because cooking was done in a caboose, a wooden box filled with sand and heated by a wood fire.

(historical, nautical) A small sand-filled container used as an oven on board ship.


catboat

According to Watkins, the first element is related to the animal cat and has correlations in Dutch kat (“vessel with wide fore and aft”), Medieval Latin gatus, gattus, Old French chat, a war machine or portable shed for protecting sapping operations, or a boat with such a shed, and Middle French chat (“kind of commercial vessel”).
However, it could instead derive from Irish cot, coit; see cot (sense 3).

cog

Men that I knew around Wapatomac didn't wear high, shiny plug hats, nor yeller spring overcoats, nor carry canes with ivory heads as big as a catboat's anchor, as you might say.

1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:

A sailing boat with a single sail, usually rigged on a gaff spar, used for fishing in New England and later adapted for racing and cruising. It has a single mast set near to the bow and a long boom which may extend over the stern.


Dutch reckoning

(nautical) A false or incorrect reckoning of position.


piracy

en-noun

piracy (countable and uncountable, plural piracies)

From Medieval Latin pīrātia, from Classical Latin pīrāta + ia, or Ancient Greek πειρατεία (peirateía).

How should the international community respond to Somali piracy?

(crime, nautical) Robbery at sea, a violation of international law; taking a ship away from the control of those who are legally entitled to it.


spanker

beyond the broad white wing of the spanker sail

1839, Charlotte Elizabeth, Glimpses of the Past:

(nautical) A fore-and-aft gaff-rigged sail on the aft-most mast of a square-rigged vessel.


run down

en-verb

run down (third-person singular simple present runs down, present participle running down, simple past ran down, past participle run down)

runs down (present singular third-person)
running down (participle present)
ran down (past)
run down (participle past)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-run down.wav

The Jylland only missed running down a schooner by a few yards in the fog; it was a near thing—near enough, in fact, to allow of some shouted remarks between those on the bridge of the motorship and the man at the wheel of the schooner to be clearly heard.

1943 May and June, Chas. S. Lake, “Some Continental Travel Experiences (1922-1939)—III”, in Railway Magazine, page 143:

Hiei now loomed into the action, causing the leading U.S. destroyers to scatter before the oncoming behemoth lest they be run down.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 14:35 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-10-17:

(nautical, transitive) To run against and sink, as a vessel.


kicking strap

(nautical) A piece of rope that connects the lower end of the mast and the boom in order to provide a means for exerting downward force on the boom and thus controlling the shape of the sail.


tiller extension

en-noun

tiller extension (plural tiller extensions)

(nautical) An attachment to the tiller that enables the helmsman to steer from further forward on the boat.


ready about

(nautical) Used by the helm announcing to the crew that (s)he is ready to change tack.


DD

DD (countable and uncountable, plural DDs)

(US, military, nautical) Abbreviation of destroyer, a type of warship.


mainsheet

(nautical) The rope connected to and controlling the mainsail.


aground

From Middle English agrounde, on grounde (“on ground”), equivalent to a- + ground.

(nautical, of a normally floating craft) Resting on the bottom.


centreboard

(British spelling, nautical) The adjustable keel on a small yacht or dinghy that acts, among other things, as ballast and to counteract the sideways force of the wind.


land ahoy

(nautical) Shouted by the ship's watch to inform the crew that land has been spotted.

земя!

interjection shouted by the ship's watch


masthead

In most American whalemen the mast-heads are manned almost simultaneously with the vessel’s leaving her port; even though she may have fifteen thousand miles, and more, to sail ere reaching her proper cruising ground.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “chapter 35”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:


masthead

en-verb

masthead (third-person singular simple present mastheads, present participle mastheading, simple past and past participle mastheaded)

mastheads (present singular third-person)
mastheading (participle present)
mastheaded (participle past)
mastheaded (past)

“I was mast-headed, sir.”
“Mast-headed! how - for what?”

1838, Frederick Marryat, Rattlin the Reefer:

When the ship happened to be in a warm climate, mastheading constituted a fairly mild punishment; indeed, many regarded it as rather a relief from duty. But in inclement weather the experience was most unpleasant.

2009, Gregory Fremont-Barnes, Nelson's Officers and Midshipmen, page 30:

(transitive, nautical) To send to the masthead as a punishment.


man overboard

(nautical) A cry used to announce that one of the crew or passengers has fallen over the side of the vessel.

شخصٌ سقط في الماء

cry indicating someone has fallen over the side

有人落落来水

ū-lâng lak-lo̍h--lâi chúi / ǔ-lâng lak-lo̍h--lâi chúi


navigator

A person who navigates, especially an officer with that responsibility on a ship or an aircrew member with that responsibility on an aircraft.


chockablock

en-adj

chockablock (comparative more chockablock, superlative most chockablock)

more chockablock (comparative)
most chockablock (superlative)

/ˈt͡ʃɒkəˌblɒk/

(nautical, of a ship's hoisting tackle) Having the blocks drawn close together so no further movement is possible, as when the tackle is hauled to the utmost.


truss

From Middle English trusse, from Old French trousse, torse. Doublet of torse and trousse.

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-truss.wav

(nautical) The rope or iron used to keep the centre of a yard to the mast.

rakki

nautical: rope or iron used to keep the centre of a yard to the mast


fetch

en-verb

fetch (third-person singular simple present fetches, present participle fetching, simple past and past participle fetched)

fetches (present singular third-person)
fetching (participle present)
fetched (participle past)
fetched (past)

The verb is derived from Middle English fecchen (“to get and bring back, fetch; to come for, get and take away; to steal; to carry away to kill; to search for; to obtain, procure”) [and other forms], from Old English feċċan, fæċċan, feccean (“to fetch, bring; to draw; to gain, take; to seek”), a variant of fetian, fatian (“to bring near, fetch; to acquire, obtain; to bring on, induce; to fetch a wife, marry”) and possibly related to Old English facian, fācian (“to acquire, obtain; to try to obtain; to get; to get to, reach”), both from Proto-Germanic *fatōną, *fatjaną (“to hold, seize; to fetch”), from Proto-Indo-European *ped- (“to step, walk; to fall, stumble”). The English word is cognate with Dutch vatten (“to apprehend, catch; to grasp; to understand”), German fassen (“to catch, grasp; to capture, seize”), English fet (“(obsolete) to fetch”), Faroese fata (“to grasp, understand”), Danish fatte (“to grasp, understand”), Swedish fatta (“to grasp, understand”), Icelandic feta (“to go, step”), West Frisian fetsje (“to grasp”).
The noun is derived from the verb.

nb...

facch, facche, facchen, fach, fache, fæchen, fatche, feccean, fecche, fecchen, fecchenn, fecchyn, fech, fechchen, feche, fechen, fechin, fechyn, fetche, fetchen, fetchyn, focche, focchen, fochche, foche, fotche, vacche, vacchen, vecche, vecchen, vechchen,

cog

LL-Q1860 (eng)-I learned some phrases-fetch.wav

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete

to fetch headway or sternway

Meantime flew our ships, and straight we fetched / The siren's isle.

1614–1615, Homer, “(please specify the book number)”, in Geo[rge] Chapman, transl., Homer’s Odysses. […], London: […] Rich[ard] Field [and William Jaggard], for Nathaniell Butter, published 1615, →OCLC; republished in The Odysseys of Homer, […], volume (please specify the book number), London: John Russell Smith, […], 1857, →OCLC:

(nautical) To bring or get within reach by going; to reach; to arrive at; to attain; to reach by sailing.

megérkezik

nautical: to bring or get within reach by going; to reach; to arrive at; to attain; to reach by sailing

(nautical, transitive) To make (a pump) draw water by pouring water into the top and working the handle.


taffrail

→ Dhivehi: ތަފުރީލު (tafurīlu)

From either tafferel or aft rail, by false alteration.

(nautical) The curved wooden top of the stern of a sailing man-of-war or East Indiaman, usually carved or decorated.

selkälauta

One evening, leaning over the taffrail, I observed a very singular, isolated cloud, to the N.W.

1833, Edgar Allan Poe, MS. Found in a Bottle:

[…] with heavy, lumber-like pace he was measuring the ship from taffrail to mainmast […]

1851, Herman Melville, chapter 29, in Moby-Dick:

See also citations under tafferel.

(nautical) The rail around the stern of a ship.

(nautical) The deck area at the stern of a vessel.


rubbing strip

(nautical) A wooden or hard rubber strip running the part or whole length of a boat's hull to protect it when it locks, moored against other boats, pontoons or jetties.


hog

Sranan Tongo: agu

From Middle English hog, from Old English hogg, hocg (“hog”), possibly from Old Norse hǫggva (“to strike, chop, cut”), from Proto-Germanic *hawwaną (“to hew, forge”), from Proto-Indo-European *kewh₂- (“to beat, hew, forge”).
Cognate with Old High German houwan, Old Saxon hauwan, Old English hēawan (English hew). Hog originally meant a castrated male pig, hence a sense of “the cut one”. (Compare hogget for a castrated male sheep.) More at hew.
Alternatively from a Brythonic language, from Proto-Celtic *sukkos, from Proto-Indo-European *suH- and thus cognate with Welsh hwch (“sow”) and Cornish hogh (“pig”).

der

Hog, on board a ship, is a sort of flat scrubbing-broom, formed by inclosing a number of short twigs of birch or such wood between two pieces of plank fastened together, and cutting off the ends of the twigs. It is used to scrape the filth from a ship's bottom under water, particularly in the act of boot-topping. For this purpose they fit to this broom a long staff with two ropes; one of which is used to thrust the hog under the ship's bottom, and the other to guide and pull it up again close to the planks.

1813, John Mason Good, Olinthus Gilbert Gregory, Newton Bosworth, Pantologia. A new (cabinet) cyclopædia, volume 5, T. Davison, Lombard street, Whitefriars, page 11:

(nautical) A rough, flat scrubbing broom for scrubbing a ship's bottom under water.

I would not consider a ship unseaworthy because she had a hog. There is no danger to life in sailing in a hogged ship. I have sailed in vessels having a 2-ft. hog in the keel. The keel has been straightened by being filled in underneath.

1920, The Records of the Proceedings and the Printed Papers, Parliamentary paper:

On inspection it was found that the vessel's keel had a hog of nearly fourteen inches.

2007, Charles E. Brodine, Michael J. Crawford, Christine F. Hughes, Interpreting Old Ironsides: An Illustrated Guide to USS Constitution, Government Printing Office, →ISBN, page 84:

(nautical) The effect of the middle of the hull of a ship rising while the ends droop.


hog

en-verb

hog (third-person singular simple present hogs, present participle hogging, simple past and past participle hogged)

hogs (present singular third-person)
hogging (participle present)
hogged (participle past)
hogged (past)

(nautical) To scrub with a hog, or scrubbing broom.

Although most of the buoyancy of a ship is provided by the middle part of the hull and comparatively little by the tapering ends, nothing will ever prevent people from putting heavy weights into the ends of a ship. One result of this is that many vessels tend to 'hog' (the two ends tend to droop and the middle of the hull tends to rise).

1991, J. E. Gordon, Structures: Or Why Things Don't Fall Down, Penguin UK, →ISBN, page 52:

Difficulty may be encountered when securing cargo hatches on ships which hog or sag and the water-tight integrity of the ship may be impaired.

2013, H. I. Lavery, Shipboard Operations, Routledge, →ISBN, page 267:

(transitive, nautical) To cause the keel of a ship to arch upwards (the opposite of sag).


gybe

gybe (third-person singular simple present gybes, present participle gybing, simple past and past participle gybed)

gybes (present singular third-person)
gybing (participle present)
gybed (participle past)
gybed (past)

Probably from Dutch gijben (obsolete), gijpen; cognate with Danish gibbe, German gieben, giepen, Swedish gipa, gippa.
The noun is derived from the verb; compare Dutch gijb (obsolete), gijp (“act of gybing; a boom”).

jiipata

of a fore-and-aft sail or its boom: to shift from one side of a sailing vessel to the other

(transitive, nautical) To shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other, while sailing before the wind.

jiipata

to shift a fore-and-aft sail from one side of a sailing vessel to the other

[…] I had my Man Friday to teach as to what belong'd to the Navigation of my Boat; for though he knew very well how to paddle a Canoe, he knew nothing what belong'd to a Sail and a Rudder, and was the moſt amaz'd when he ſaw me work the Boat too and again in the Sea by the Rudder, and how the Sail gyb'd, and fill'd this Way or that Way, as the Courſe we ſail'd chang'd: […]

1719 May 6 (Gregorian calendar), [Daniel Defoe], The Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, […], London: […] W[illiam] Taylor […], →OCLC, page 271:

(intransitive, nautical) Of a fore-and-aft sail or its boom: to shift, often forcefully and suddenly, from one side of a sailing vessel to the other.

(intransitive, nautical) Generally of a small sailing vessel: to change tack with the wind crossing behind the vessel.


gybe

A sudden shift of a sail's angle, or a sudden change in the direction that a vessel is sailing in.

The key to a good gybe is to bring the spinnaker round to the old weather side before you begin, and then to steer to keep some wind in the kite.

2014, Tim Davison, “Symmetric Spinnakers”, in Skipper’s Cockpit Racing Guide: For Dinghies, Keelboats and Yachts, London: Adlard Coles Nautical, →ISBN, page 24:

A manoeuvre in which the stern of a sailing vessel crosses the wind, typically resulting in the forceful and sudden sweep of the boom from one side of the vessel to the other.


conical buoy

(nautical) a buoy in the shape of a cone, normally painted black, and numbered with odd numbers, used to show the starboard side of a channel; the port side is marked with a can buoy


can buoy

(nautical) a truncated conical buoy, normally painted red and white, and numbered with even numbers, used to show the port side of a channel; the starboard side is marked with a conical buoy


caisson disease

(pathology, nautical) The painful condition in which bubbles of nitrogen form in body tissues after a person makes too-rapid a transition from high atmospheric pressure to lower atmospheric pressure.


euphroe

Borrowed from Dutch juffrouw (“young woman”).

(nautical) A long wooden slat, with holes for cords, that holds up an awning.


RV

(nautical) Initialism of research vessel.


windward

en-adj

windward (comparative more windward, superlative most windward)

more windward (comparative)
most windward (superlative)

The windward boat must give way to the leeward boat.

Towards the wind, or the direction from which the wind is blowing.

the windward bedroom.


windward

We beat our way windward.

In a direction from which the wind blows, against or towards the wind.


windward

A vessel has the weather gage of another when she is to windward of her. A weatherly ship is one that works well to windward, making but little leeway.

1840, Richard Henry Dana, Two Years before the Mast:

The direction from which the wind blows.


bowman

(nautical) The person, in a team or among oarsmen, positioned nearest the bow.


catharpin

(nautical) A short rope, or iron cramp, used to stop the shrouds interfering with the yards.


mallemaroking

/ˌmæləməˈɹoʊkɪŋ/

Generally considered to derive from Dutch, although a specific etymon is unclear. Century and some other old dictionaries derive it from a confusion of two similar Dutch [Term?] words, namely *mallemerok (“foolish woman”) (from malle (“foolish”) + *marok, from French marotte (“jester's sceptre”)) and *mallemok (“sailor of a whaling vessel”), but the first of those words is not attested, and the second is not attested with the claimed meaning (but see mollymawk). Compare mallemolen.

"Just because I had one gin before and a couple of glasses of claret during you thought I'd been mallemaroking."

1958, “Punch”, in (Please provide the book title or journal name), volume 235, page 319:

[…] they were willing to endure so much physical hardship out of loyalty to Emperor Franz Joseph. Indeed, such is their sense of duty that they even indulge in some muted mallemaroking to celebrate the Emperor's birthday.

2006, Katrin Maria Kohl, Ritchie Robertson, A History of Austrian Literature 1918-2000, page 243:

(historical, nautical) Carousing on icebound Greenland whaling ships.


clew

From Middle English clewe, from Old English cleowen, cliewen, cliwen (“sphere, ball, skein; ball of thread or yarn; mass, group”), from Proto-Germanic *kliuwiną, *klewô (“ball, bale”), from Proto-Indo-European *glew- (“to conglomerate, gather into a mass; clump, ball, bale”). Akin to Old English clǣġ (“clay”).

skuutti

nautical: sheet attached to this sail corner

'Mid the rattle of blocks and the tramp of the crew,
Hisses the rain of the rushing squall;
The sails are aback from clew to clew,
And now is the moment for "MAINSAIL, HAUL!"

1858, Walter Mitchell, Tacking Ship Off Shore:

"Clew" is Saxon; "garnet" (from granato, a fruit) is Italian,—that is, the garnet- or pomegranate-shaped block fastened to the clew or corner of the courses, and hence the rope running through the block.

1858, The Atlantic Monthly, "The Language of the Sea"

I went over and asked him to let down the clews or corners of the mainsail, which had been drawn up in order to lessen the useless flapping of the sail against the rigging.

1894, James Hudson Taylor, A Retrospect:

"Run aft, Haldane, and you too, Spokeshave. Loosen the bunt of the mizzen-trysail and haul at the clew. That’ll bring her up to the wind fast enough, if the sail only stands it!"

1901, John Conroy Hutcheson, The Ghost Ship:

(nautical) The lower corner(s) of a sail to which a sheet is attached for trimming the sail (adjusting its position relative to the wind); the metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail, to which the sheet is attached. (on a triangular sail) The trailing corner relative to the wind direction.

clewline

lower corner of a sail, metal loop or cringle in the corner of the sail

He taught us how to attach the clews to the ends of the hammock and then lash it between jack stays.

2000, Ralph W Danklefsen, The Navy I Remember, Xlibris, page 21:

(nautical, in the plural) The cords suspending a hammock.


clew

en-verb

clew (third-person singular simple present clews, present participle clewing, simple past and past participle clewed)

clews (present singular third-person)
clewing (participle present)
clewed (participle past)
clewed (past)

(nautical, transitive, intransitive) to raise the lower corner(s) of (a sail)


tacking

en-noun

tacking (countable and uncountable, plural tackings)


FAA

(military, nautical, aviation) Initialism of Fleet Air Arm (carrier-borne air force of the U.K.'s Royal Navy).


HSV

HSV (countable and uncountable, plural HSVs)

BHV

bovine herpes virus or bovine herpesvirus

CeHV

cercopithecine herpes virus or cercopithecine herpesvirus

EHV

equine herpes virus or equine herpesvirus

FHV

feline herpes virus or feline herpesvirus

KSHV

Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpes virus or Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus

MaHV

macropodid herpes virus or macropodid herpesvirus

OsHV

oyster herpes virus or oyster herpesvirus

Coordinate term: HS

(nautical) Initialism of high speed vessel.


CPA

CPA (countable and uncountable, plural CPAs)

closest point of approach
closest point of approach#English

(nautical, aviation) Initialism of closest point of approach.


capstan screw

(nautical) Mainly on sailboats, the mechanism for winding ropes under a lot of tension; a capstan.


ATF

ATF (countable and uncountable, plural ATFs)

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of auxiliary tugboat fleet.; a naval fleet tugboat, a fleet tug that can keep up with a fleet on operations


norman

An iron norman pin penetrates the bitt near the top , and there is visible wear on the bitt from lines being tied to it and the norman pin

2013, Keith N. Meverden, Wisconsin Coal Haulers:


tiller

From Middle English teler, from Anglo-Norman telier (“beam used in weaving”), from Medieval Latin telarium, from Latin tēla (“web”).

der

(nautical) A bar of iron or wood connected with the rudderhead and leadline, usually forward, in which the rudder is moved as desired by the tiller (FM 55-501).

(nautical) The handle of the rudder which the helmsman holds to steer the boat, a piece of wood or metal extending forward from the rudder over or through the transom. Generally attached at the top of the rudder.


rouse

en-verb

rouse (third-person singular simple present rouses, present participle rousing, simple past and past participle roused)

rouses (present singular third-person)
rousing (participle present)
roused (participle past)
roused (past)

From Middle English rousen, from Anglo-Norman reuser, ruser, originally used in English of hawks shaking the feathers of the body, from Latin recusare, by loss of the medial 'c.' Doublet of recuse.
Figurative meaning "to stir up, provoke to activity" is from 1580s; that of "awaken" is first recorded 1590s.

Tom, you and the boy rouse the cable up—get about ten fathoms on deck, and bend it.

1832, [Frederick Marryat], chapter V, in Newton Forster; or, The Merchant Service. […], volume (please specify |volume=I to III), London: James Cochrane and Co., […], →OCLC, page 71:

(nautical) To pull by main strength; to haul.


capstan

Borrowed into Middle English from either Old French cabestan, from Old Occitan cabestan, from cabestre (“pulley cord”) or from Spanish cabestran, both of which derive from Latin capistrum (“halter”), from capiō (“take hold of”).

capstan (nautical)
capstan (tape recorder)

pawl the capstan

to drop the pawl so that they will catch in the notches of the pawl ring

and prevent the capstan from turning back

"Man the capstan! Blood and thunder!—jump!"—was the next command, and the crew sprang for the handspikes.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

We toiled over the capstan, and late in the afternoon slipped out of the harbour.

1951, W. I. B. Crealock, Vagabonding Under Sail, Hastings House (New York), page 211:

Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

(nautical) A vertical cylindrical machine that revolves on a spindle, used to apply force to ropes, cables, etc. It is typically surmounted by a drumhead with sockets for levers used to turn it.


take aback

take aback (third-person singular simple present takes aback, present participle taking aback, simple past took aback, past participle taken aback)

takes aback (present singular third-person)
taking aback (participle present)
took aback (past)
taken aback (participle past)

[ˌtʰeɪ̯.k‿əˈbæk]

/ˌtæɪk əˈbæk/

[ˌtʰæɪ̯.k‿əˈbæk]

From take + aback, see the two entries for their respective etymology.

(nautical, usually passive) Of a ship: to catch it with the sails aback suddenly.


seaway

From Middle English seewey, from Old English sǣweġ (“a seaway, a path through the sea”), equivalent to sea + way. Compare Saterland Frisian Seegong (“seaway, swell”), German Seegang (“seaway, swell”).

cog

(nautical) A lane or route at sea that is regularly used by ships; a sea lane or trade route.

laivareitti

The coracle […] was a very safe boat for a person of my height and weight, both buoyant and clever in a seaway; but she was the most cross-grained, lop-sided craft to manage.

1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC:

(nautical) An inland waterway used by seagoing shipping.


headway

en-noun

headway (countable and uncountable, plural headways)

Partly from Middle English hauedwei, from Old English hēafodweġ (“head-road, main-road”), equivalent to head + way; partly as a shortening of ahead-way, the source of the nautical sense.


run aground

en-verb

run aground (third-person singular simple present runs aground, present participle running aground, simple past ran aground, past participle run aground)

runs aground (present singular third-person)
running aground (participle present)
ran aground (past)
run aground (participle past)

The drunken helmsman ran the ship aground.

(transitive) To cause (a vessel) to be immobilized by water too shallow to allow it to float.


SS

(nautical) A shiptype
Initialism of steam ship.

Coordinate term: PS

Initialism of screw steamer. (a screw-driven steamship)

(US, Navy) Initialism of subsurface, a subsurface ship, a submarine

attack submarine
attack submarine#English


RSS

Republic of Singapore
Republic of Singapore#English

(military, nautical, Singapore) Initialism of Republic of Singapore Ship (“prefix of Navy ships belonging to the Republic of Singapore Navy”).


yellow jack

en-noun

yellow jack (countable and uncountable, plural yellow jacks)

(countable, nautical) A yellow flag used by ships as a warning of disease.


mizzenmast

(nautical) The aftmost mast on a ship having three masts; the third-tallest mast on a full-rigged ship.

(nautical) The third-foremost mast on a ship having more than three masts.

(nautical) The second mast of a ship having two masts where the second one is shorter, such as a ketch or yawl.


tumblehome

The bodysides have a gentle tumblehome, which gives the machine impressive solidarity of appearance, well set off by the new B.R. standard livery of light-skirted green.

1961 August, “The English Electric Type 5 3,300 h.p. "Deltic" diesels for British Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 468:

Like the Pullmans, however, there would be a familiar curving tumblehome and cant rail, and a similar white window surround […].

2024 March 20, Greg Morse, “XP64: the train the ^([sic]) [that] launched a new style”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 46:

(nautical) The inward curve of the topsides of some ship hulls; the term was also used for rolling stock on railways in Britain.


mizzen

Borrowed from Middle French misaine, modified from Old French migenne (through influence from Italian mezzana), from Old Catalan mitjana, feminine of mitjan, ultimately from Latin medianus. Doublet of mean and median.

Finding it was like to overblow, we took in our Sprit-ſail, and ſtood by to hand the Fore-ſail; but making foul Weather, we look'd the Guns were all faſt, and handed the Miſſen.

1726 October 28, [Jonathan Swift], “A Great Storm Described, the Long-Boat Sent to Fetch Water, the Author Goes with It to Discover the Country. […]”, in Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. […] [Gulliver’s Travels], volume I, London: […] Benj[amin] Motte, […], →OCLC, part II (A Voyage to Brobdingnag), page 151:

"'Oh yes, that's all very well, but we haven't done with it yet,' said the lad, 'we shall have it worse directly,' and he ordered them to furl every rag but the mizen."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 191:

(nautical) A fore-and-aft sail set on a mizzenmast.


mizzen

the mizzen shrouds, sails, etc.


yards

Her yards were bare and cockabill.

(nautical) The totality of the sailing rig.


trysail

(nautical) A small, strong triangular sail sometimes set in place of the mainsail in heavy weather.


trestle tree

A structure attached to a mast to support the top and the heel of a topmast.


triatic stay

(nautical) A stay connecting the mastheads of a multi-masted rig such as a schooner or ketch.


amphora

amphora (plural amphoras or amphorae or amphorai)

amphoras (plural)
amphorae (plural)
amphorai (plural)

/æmˈfɔ(ː)ɹə/

From Latin amphora (“large wine vessel, Roman unit of liquid measure”), from Ancient Greek ἀμφορεύς (amphoreús, “two-handled pitcher, Greek units of liquid measure”), ultimately from Mycenaean Greek 𐀀𐀠𐀡𐀩𐀸 (a-pi-po-re-we, “carried on both sides”).

der

By concurrent use of panel decoration and concentric-circle ornament, and by free employment of red paint, the fully developed style of the Geometric Period attains a wide range of rich and elaborate effects. These are best displayed on the necks and shoulders of the very large amphorai which are characteristic of this period.

1914, John L[inton] Myres, Handbook of the Cesnola Collection of Antiquities from Cyprus, New York, N.Y., page 76:

A complete set for a ten-man symposion (an ordinary size) with ten deep cups, ten shallow cups, two mixing-bowls, two wine-jugs, two hydriai, two amphorai would cost in the neighbourhood of forty drachmai, and that would not be an unreasonable price for a rich man for a special occasion.

1973, T[homas] B[ertram] L[onsdale] Webster, Athenian Culture and Society, London: Batsford, →ISBN, page 137:

Traditionally, the style of an artefact has been separated from its function. Thus, the function of a Greek pot – defined in terms of whether it was intended for transportation (hydriai or large amphorai), storage (pithoi and some kraters), distribution (oinokhoai) or consumption (cups, skyphoi and plates) – tends to be treated separately from any painted decoration on its surface.

1997, Jonathan M[ark] Hall, Ethnic Identity in Greek Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, published 2004, →ISBN, page 133:

(chiefly historical) A large vessel, especially a thin-necked clay vat used in ancient Greece and Rome for storing and transporting wine and oil.

ܐܘܦܪܐ

large clay vessel used in ancient Greece and Rome for storing wine and oil


landing craft

en-noun

landing craft (plural landing crafts or landing craft)

landing crafts (plural)
landing craft (plural)

(nautical, military) A type of flat-bottomed boat used to transport infantry and vehicles onto a shore during an assault from the sea.


holder

→ Punjabi: ਹੌਲਡਰ (haulḍar)

(nautical) One who is employed in the hold of a vessel.


packet

From Middle English pacquet; either from Middle French pacquet, or formed independently from pak and -et.

With just the turn of a shoulder she indicated the water front, where, at the end of the dock on which they stood, lay the good ship, Mount Vernon, river packet, the black smoke already pouring from her stacks.

1910, Emerson Hough, “A Lady in Company”, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:

Fishguard Harbour, constructed some 60 years ago by the G.W.R., became the packet port for G.W.R. services to Waterford and Rosslare - the latter port itself was a new venture partly under G.W.R. auspices - and to Cork.

1961 August, “New traffic flows in South Wales”, in Trains Illustrated, page 492:

(nautical) Originally, a vessel employed by government to convey dispatches or mails; hence, a vessel employed in conveying dispatches, mails, passengers, and goods, and having fixed days of sailing; a mail boat. Packet boat, ship, vessel (Wikipedia).


HMT

(UK, military, nautical) Initialism of His/Her Majesty's Trawler.


dead horse

dead horse (usually uncountable, plural dead horses)

(dated, nautical) The period of work on board ship for which the seamen have been paid in advance (usually a month's wages), the end of this term being celebrated by parading a straw horse about the decks.


capital ship

(nautical) Any of the most important types of warships, capable of projecting a fleet in being.


ship of the line

ship of the line (plural ships of the line)

Contraction of line of battle ship, a warship large enough to be in the line of battle. See also battleship, contracted from the same phrase.

(nautical, military) A large square-rigged warship large enough to have a place in the line of battle, with up to 140 guns on at least two decks. A capital ship from the age of sail, superior to a frigate; usually, a seventy-four, or three-decker.


square-rigged

(nautical, of a ship) Having (approximately) square sails rigged onto spars perpendicular to the keel.


SSR

Sub Surface Radar
Sub Surface Radar#English

(US, military, nautical, obsolete) Initialism of Sub Surface Radar — a radar picket submarine.

Small Ships Register
Small Ships Register#English

(nautical) Initialism of Small Ships Register.


rectifier

power inverter

antonym(s) of “a device that converts AC electricity to DC”

/ˈɹɛktɪfaɪɚ/

/ˈɹɛktɪfaɪə/

(nautical) An instrument used for determining and rectifying the variations of the compass on board ship.


AV

(US, military, nautical) Initialism of Auxiliary Voler - a naval aircraft transport


trooper

From troop + -er, from French troupe. The sense of “one who endures adversity” comes from trouper (“member of an acting troupe”) but through assimilation with the sense of “soldier” has come to be usually spelled “trooper”.

She was built by William Denny & Bros. Ltd., and launched in 1939, but went immediately on active service as a trooper.

1947 January and February, “Notes and News: New Southern Channel Steamer”, in Railway Magazine, page 49:

(British, nautical, military) A troopship.


futtock

From Middle English futtek, votek, of uncertain origin; perhaps a compound of Old English fōt + hōc, or fut + -uc (foot hook or foot -ock), Old Dutch vot or fuot + hoek; or from timber jargon word butt + -ock (diminutive suffix). Alternatively from Middle Dutch voetkijn, diminutive of voet (“foot”), equivalent to foot + -kin; or Old English *fōtuc, meaning foot + -ock (diminutive suffix).
Perhaps came into Old English from Old Norse fótr, or fett / futt (big); + ek (timbr), or øks; giving Old Norse fót'ek, futtek or futtøks; equivalent Norwegian is fot haki, fett eik (tømmer), or fett øks; meaning foot hook, big oak (timber), or bold axe.

The timbers (called also frames, or floors, first, second and third futtocks, where the lengths of the frames are in two, three, or more pieces) will be "double," that is, two timbers will be placed close together, or nearly close together, and act as one frame.

1884, Dixon Kemp, A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing (Fourth Edition), page 12:

(nautical) Any of the curved rib-like timbers that form the frame of a wooden ship.


DL

DL (countable and uncountable, plural DLs)

(military, nautical) Initialism of light destroyer, a variant of the destroyer type of warship.

light destroyer

destroyer leader
destroyer leader#English

(military, nautical) Initialism of destroyer leader, a variant of the destroyer type of warship.


liner

From line (noun) + -er (relational suffix) or -er (measurement suffix) (sense 5).


RORO

RORO (countable and uncountable, plural ROROs)

roll-on roll-off
roll-on roll-off#English

(nautical) Abbreviation of roll-on roll-off.


waterline

(nautical) A line formed by the surface of the water on the hull of a ship when she is afloat; any of a series of short lines marked on the hull to show where the waterline would be under different loadings.


CLG

guided-missile light cruiser
guided-missile light cruiser#English

(military, nautical) Initialism of guided-missile light cruiser.


Plimsoll line

From Samuel Plimsoll, Bristol merchant and member of Parliament; promoter of the Merchant Shipping Act.

International Load Line
International Load Line

(nautical) Properly the International Load Line, a mark on the hull of a merchant ship to show the waterline under specified conditions. The line shows the maximum capacity load the ship may carry.


clinch

→ Czech: klinč

→ German: Clinch

→ French: clinch

→ Portuguese: clinche

→ Russian: клинч (klinč)

→ Serbo-Croatian: klȉnč

→ Polish: klincz

→ Swedish: klinch

(nautical) A hitch or bend by which a rope is made fast to the ring of an anchor, or the breeching of a ship's gun to the ringbolts.


squall

→ Polish: szkwał

→ Russian: шквал (škval)

→ Ukrainian: шквал (škval)

From Middle English *squalen and squelen (“to cry, scream, squall”), from Old Norse skvala (“to cry out”), probably ultimately imitative with influence from squeal and bawl.
Cognate with Swedish skvala (“to gush, pour down”), Norwegian skval (“sudden rush of water”). The noun is probably from the verb.

onomatopoeic

imitative

cog

Luckily she wasn’t there any more, no one was, when he returned from the Caribbean carnival damp-hatted and soaked through after being caught unprepared by a squall of hard, hot rain.

2001, Salman Rushdie, Fury: A Novel, London: Jonathan Cape, →ISBN, page 5:

With reports of the Japanese forces bearing down on them confirmed, Rear Admiral Sprague orders his ships east, heading towards a series of rain squalls, hoping for concealment. This will hopefully delay the Japanese closing the range, and also draw them away from the much-more-vulnerable landing ships.

2019 February 27, Drachinifel, 10:57 from the start, in The Battle of Samar - Odds? What are those?, archived from the original on 2022-11-03:

(often nautical) A sudden storm, as found in a squall line.


martingale

From Middle French martingale, from Occitan martegalo, feminine form of martegal, an inhabitant of Martigues, which is from Latin maritima. Alternatively from Spanish almártaga.
The meaning in gambling may come from an old usage of "à la martingale" to mean absurdly, foolishly.https://people.math.harvard.edu/~ctm/home/text/class/sem/html/home/notes/martingales/martingales.pdf

(nautical) A spar, or piece of rigging that strengthens the bowsprit.