gig

The noun is derived from Middle English gigg, gigge, gygge (“spinning object; a top”); further origin uncertain, possibly:
* from Old Norse [Term?] (compare Danish gig (“a top”), dialectal Norwegian giga (“to shake about”)), from Proto-Germanic *gīganą (“to move, wish, desire”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʰeyǵʰ-, *gʰeygʰ- (“to yawn, gape, long for, desire”); or
* ultimately onomatopoeic.
Senses 2–4 are thought to derive from sense 1 (“whipping-top”), but their exact relationship is unclear.
The verb is derived from the noun.

uder

She [a frigate] also carried a Commodore's Barge, a Captain's Gig, and a "dingy," a small yawl, with a crew of apprentice boys. […] Above all, the officers see to it that the Commodore's Barge and the Captain's Gig are manned by gentlemanly youths, who do credit to their country, and form agreeable objects for the eyes of the Commodore or Captain to repose upon as he tranquilly sits in the stern, when pulled ashore by his barge-men or gig-men, as the case may be.

1850, Herman Melville, “The Frigate in Harbour—The Boats—Grand State Reception of the Commodore”, in White Jacket; or, The World in a Man-of-War, volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 254:

The captain's gig still lies before ye whole and sound, / It shall carry all o' we.

1979, Stan Rogers (lyrics and music), “The Flowers of Bermuda” (track 6), in Between the Breaks … Live!, Dundas, Ont.: Fogarty’s Cove Music:

A small, narrow, open boat carried in a larger ship, and used for transportation between the ship and the shore, another vessel, etc.

giek

(Southern England, by extension) A similar rowing boat or sailboat, especially one used for racing; specifically, a six-oared sea rowing boat commonly found in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.

Gig

similar rowing boat or sailboat, especially one used for racing; six-oared sea rowing boat commonly found in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

While Sir William was with them, Mr. Collins devoted his mornings to driving him out in his gig, and shewing him the country; […]

1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter VII, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume II, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 77:

Here a coach thundered over the pavement, and there an unwieldy omnibus, with spruce gigs rattling past, and horsemen prancing through all the bustle.

1837 July, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “[Tales and Sketches.] Fragments from the Journal of a Solitary Man.”, in The Dolliver Romance, and Other Pieces, Boston, Mass.: James R[ipley] Osgood and Company, late Ticknor & Fields, and Fields, Osgood, & Co., published 1876, →OCLC, section I, page 84:

[W]hen he was gone (in the carriage, mind you, not in the gig driven by the groom), I am sure Mrs. Newcome would have written a letter that night to Her Grace the Duchess Dowager, his mamma, full of praise of the dear child, his graciousness, his beauty, and his wit, and declaring that she must love him henceforth and for ever after as a son of her own.

1854, Arthur Pendennis [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Clive’s Uncles”, in The Newcomes: Memoirs of a Most Respectable Family, volume I, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], →OCLC, page 51:

[T]he room grew stifling warm and vapor clung to the windowpanes, blurring the throng of people still milling outside the courthouse, a row of tethered gigs and buggies, distant pine trees in a scrawny, ragged grove.

1967, William Styron, “Judgment Day”, in The Confessions of Nat Turner, New York, N.Y.: Random House, →OCLC, page 77:

(road transport, historical) A two-wheeled carriage drawn by a single horse.


buttock

Inherited from Middle English buttok, probably from Old English buttuc (“end; end piece”; also, “short piece of land”). Attested with its current anatomical meaning since 1300. A diminutive form of what is presumably the Old English precursor of butt + -ock (diminutive suffix).

inh

There came a blast of freezing wind that made Skell shrug himself against the oaken post on which the ship's buttock rested.

(nautical) The convexity of a ship behind, under the stern.


kid

en-noun

kid (countable and uncountable, plural kids)

From Middle English kide, from Old Norse kið (“young goat”), from Proto-Germanic *kidją, *kittīną (“goatling, kid”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gʰaydn-, *ǵʰaydn- (“goat”) or Proto-Indo-European *gidʰ- (“kid, goatling, little goat”). Compare Swedish and Danish kid, German Kitz and Kitze, Albanian kedh and kec.
Sense of child since 1590s as cant, since 1840s in informal use.

der

peaceable, well-disposed chaps as ever eat duff (dough) out of a kid

1830, James Fenimore Cooper, The Water-witch, Or, The Skimmer of the Seas:

We fasted till night, when one of the boys came along with a couple of "kids" containing a thin, saffron-coloured fluid, with oily particles floating on top. The young wag told us this was soup: it turned out to be nothing more than oleaginous warm water.

1847 March 30, Herman Melville, “Reception from the Frenchman”, in Omoo: A Narrative of Adventures in the South Seas; […], London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 109:

(nautical) A small wooden mess tub in which sailors received their food.


afore

non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger

From Middle English afore, aforn, from Old English onforan or ætforan; equivalent to a- + fore.


jam

en-verb

jam (third-person singular simple present jams, present participle jamming, simple past and past participle jammed)

jams (present singular third-person)
jamming (participle present)
jammed (participle past)
jammed (past)

First attested in the early 18th c. as a verb meaning “to press, be pressed, be wedged in”. Compare dialectal jammock (“to press, squeeze, crush into a soft mass, chew food"; also "a soft, pulpy substance”). Perhaps from Middle English chammen, champen ("to bite upon something, gnash the teeth"; whence modern champ, chomp), of uncertain origin; probably originally onomatopoeic.

onomatopoeic

onomatopoeic

It won't do to jam her,” answered Stone ;" but it might be worth findin' out if th' Hope won't lie closer than t' other can." Half a point ----"

(Can we date this quote?), William Clark Russell, The Golden Hope:

(nautical, transitive) To bring (a vessel) so close to the wind that half her upper sails are laid aback.


aft

From Old English æftan (“behind”); possibly originally superlative of of (“off”). See after.

(nautical) The stern portion of a vessel.


aft

en-adv

aft (comparative further aft or more aft, superlative furthest aft or most aft)

further aft (comparative)
more aft (comparative)
furthest aft (superlative)
most aft (superlative)

I came safe on board, but I felt anything but easy about the boat and the boy; my thoughts were not where they should be, for every moment I had to give the boat and the boy a look, and at last I saw a sea strike the boat aft, which gave it a send forward and under, and the next moment he was gone.

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 183:

(nautical) At, near, or towards the stern of a vessel (with the frame of reference within the vessel).


tender

en-adj

tender (comparative tenderer, superlative tenderest)

tenderer (comparative)
tenderest (superlative)

From Middle English tender, tendere, from Anglo-Norman tender, Old French tendre, from Latin tener, tenerum (“soft, delicate”).

(nautical) Heeling over too easily when under sail; said of a vessel.


tender

From tend + -er. Compare attender (“one who attends”).

tenderman

smaller boat used for transportation, naval ship that functions as a mobile base

Half the coal was out of the tender, half the fire out of the box, half the trucks were off the track, so violent was the stopping.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter XII, in Capricornia, New York: D. Appleton-Century, published 1943, page 201:

Of locomotive interest was "an engine house for spare engines which was about 60 ft. × 51 ft.; on the outside of this was an immense turntable sufficient to turn the engine and tender at once."

1944 July and August, Reginald B. Fellows, “The Failure of Bricklayers Arms as a Passenger Station—I”, in Railway Magazine, page 211:

(rail transport) A railroad car towed behind a steam engine to carry fuel and water.

submarine tender

destroyer tender

(nautical) A naval ship that functions as a mobile base for other ships.

плаваща база

nautical: ship functioning as mobile base for other ships

The transfer by tender of some 1,300 mail bags was effected smartly, and the "Ocean Mails Special" train was ready at 9.19 a.m.

1944 July and August, Charles E. Lee, “The "City of Truro"”, in Railway Magazine, page 202:

A passenger on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth died this week following an accident while boarding from a tender (the small boats that carry passengers from ship to shore or port when the cruise ship anchors at sea). […] Gangway ramps can, on occasion, break free of either the ship or the tender, causing passengers or crew to fall into the sea.

2015 April 1, Teresa Machan, “Queen Elizabeth passenger dies boarding a cruise ship tender [print version: Queen Elizabeth passenger dies after boarding mishap, 4 April 2015, p. T5]”, in The Daily Telegraph (Travel), archived from the original on 2015-04-13:

(nautical) A smaller boat used for transportation between a large ship and the shore.

yhteysvene

nautical: a boat used for transportation btw a ship and the shore


diversion

en-noun

diversion (countable and uncountable, plural diversions)

/daɪˈvɜːʃən/

/daɪˈvɜːʒən/

From French diversion, from Medieval Latin diversiō, from Latin divertō (“to divert”); see divert.

An interesting feature in the weeks preceding the diversions was the provision of a road-learning train to familiarise main line drivers with the alternative route.

1960 February, R. C. Riley, “The London-Birmingham services - Past, Present and Future”, in Trains Illustrated, page 102:

(transport) A detour, such as during road construction.

отклонение

(transport) The rerouting of cargo or passengers to a new transshipment point or destination, or to a different mode of transportation before arrival at the ultimate destination.


luxury

en-adj

luxury (comparative more luxury, superlative most luxury)

more luxury (comparative)
most luxury (superlative)

From Middle English luxurie, from Old French luxurie, from Latin luxuria (“rankness, luxury”), from luxus (“extravagance, luxury”).

(automotive) Pertaining to the top-end market segment for mass production mass market vehicles, above the premium market segment.


table

en-verb

table (third-person singular simple present tables, present participle tabling, simple past and past participle tabled)

tables (present singular third-person)
tabling (participle present)
tabled (participle past)
tabled (past)

From Middle English table, tabel, tabil, tabul, from Old English tabele, tabul, tablu, tabule, tabula (“board”); also as tæfl, tæfel, an early Germanic borrowing of Latin tabula (“tablet, board, plank, chart”). The sense of “piece of furniture” is from Old French table, of same Latin origin; Old English used bēod or bord instead for this meaning: see board. Doublet of tabula and tavla.

der

(nautical) To make board hems in the skirts and bottoms of (sails) in order to strengthen them in the part attached to the bolt-rope.


ken

Northern and Scottish dialects from Middle English kennen, from Old English cennan (“make known, declare, acknowledge”) originally “to make known”, causative of cunnan (“to become acquainted with, to know”), from Proto-West Germanic *kannijan, from Proto-Germanic *kannijaną, causative of *kunnaną (“be able”), from which comes the verb can.
Cognate with West Frisian kenne (“to know; recognise”), Dutch kennen (“to know”), German kennen (“to know, be acquainted with someone/something”), Norwegian Bokmål kjenne, Norwegian Nynorsk kjenna, Old Norse kenna (“to know, perceive”), Swedish känna (“to know, feel”), Danish kende (“to know”). See also: can, con.
The noun meaning “range of sight” is a nautical abbreviation of present participle kenning.

cog

At once as far as Angels kenn he views / The dismal Situation waste and wilde […]

1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 59-60:


pulse

From Late Middle English pulse, Middle English pous, pouse (“regular beat of arteries, pulse; heartbeat; place on the body where a pulse is detectable; beat (of a musical instrument); energy, vitality”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman puls, pous, pus, and Middle French pouls, poulz, pous [and other forms], Old French pous, pulz (“regular beat of arteries; place on the body where a pulse is detectable”) (modern French pouls), and from their etymon Latin pulsus (“beat, impulse, pulse, stroke; regular beat of arteries or the heart”), from pellō (“to drive, impel, propel, push; to banish, eject, expel; to set in motion; to strike”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to beat, strike; to drive; to push, thrust”)) + -sus (a variant of -tus (suffix forming action nouns from verbs)).

nb...

pouce, pounce, pouns, pounse, pousse, pouz, puls

der

public transportation
public transportation

(transport) A timed, coordinated connection, when multiple public transportation vehicles are at a hub at the same time so that passengers can flexibly connect between them.


shackle

From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), possibly from *skakaną (“to shake; to swing; to escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to shake; to stir”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary because *skeg-, *skek- lack the meaning of attaching or fastening.
Sense 3 (“length of cable or chain equal to 12½ or 15 fathoms”) derives from the original distance between two shackles (sense 1.1.2) connecting lengths of cable or chain together.
cognates
* Danish skagle (“carriage trace”)
* Dutch schakel (“clasp; link; shackle”)
* German Schäckel (“shackle”)
* Icelandic skökull (“carriage pole”)
* Swedish skakel (“loose shaft of a carriage”)

kahleet

restraint on one’s action, etc. — see also restraint

(usually in the plural) A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.

(rail transport) A link for connecting railroad cars; a draglink, drawbar, or drawlink.

Once the cables are at five shackles to each anchor, stop engines and stop windlass operations. The vessel will then be seen to lie to five shackles on the Port (Riding Cable) and five shackles on the starboard (Sleeping Cable).

2007, David J. House, “Anchor Operations and Deployment”, in Ship Handling: Theory and Practice, Oxford, Oxfordshire; Burlington, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann, →ISBN, page 92:

(nautical) A length of cable or chain equal to 12½ fathoms (75 feet or about 22.9 metres), or later to 15 fathoms (90 feet or about 27.4 metres).


chord

Variant of cord, with spelling alteration due to Latin chorda (“cord”), ultimately from Ancient Greek χορδή (khordḗ, “string of gut, the string of a lyre”)

der

(engineering) A horizontal member of a truss.

(rail transport) A section of subsidiary railway track that interconnects two primary tracks that cross at different levels, to permit traffic to flow between them.

(nautical) An imaginary line from the luff of a sail to its leech.


spot

en-verb

spot (third-person singular simple present spots, present participle spotting, simple past and past participle spotted)

spots (present singular third-person)
spotting (participle present)
spotted (participle past)
spotted (past)

From Middle English spot, spotte, partially from Middle Dutch spotte (“spot, speck”), and partially merging with Middle English splot, from Old English splott (“spot, plot of land”), from Proto-West Germanic *splott, from Proto-Germanic *spluttaz (“segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *splt-no- (“an off-split, segment”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to split”). Cognate with North Frisian spot (“speck, piece of ground”), Low German spot (“speck”), Old Norse spotti (“small piece”). See also splot, splotch.

cog

(rail transport, transitive) To position (a locomotive or car) at a predetermined point, e.g., for loading or unloading.


frog

→ Esperanto: frogo

→ Hawaiian: poloka

→ Irish: frog

From Middle English frogge, from Old English frogga, from Proto-West Germanic *froggō (“frog”). Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk fraug (“frog”), Old Norse frauki. Related also to English frosk (“frog”), frosh (“frog”), and frock (“frog”).
Possibly related to Saterland Frisian Poage (“frog”), German Low German Pogg, Pogge (“frog”).

(rail transport) The part of a railway switch or turnout where the running-rails cross (from the resemblance to the frog in a horse’s hoof).


worm

en-verb

worm (third-person singular simple present worms, present participle worming, simple past and past participle wormed)

worms (present singular third-person)
worming (participle present)
wormed (participle past)
wormed (past)

From Middle English worm, werm, wurm, wirm, from Old English wyrm (“worm, snake”), from Proto-Germanic *wurmiz, from Proto-Indo-European *wr̥mis, possibly from *wer- (“to turn”). Doublet of vermin and wyrm, the latter of which is a fairly recent borrowing directly from the Old English.
(computing): First computer usage by John Brunner in his 1975 book The Shockwave Rider.
cognates
Germanic cognates include Dutch worm, West Frisian wjirm, German Wurm, Swedish orm (“snake”), Norwegian Nynorsk orm (“earthworm or snake”), Danish orm and Yiddish וואָרעם (vorem).
Indo-European cognates include Latin vermis (“worm”), Lithuanian var̃mas (“insect, midge”), Albanian rrime (“rainworm”), Ancient Greek ῥόμος (rhómos, “woodworm”).

cog

Worm and parcel with the lay; turn and serve the other way.

Ropes[…]are generally wormed before they are served.

1841, Benjamin J. Totten, Naval Text-Book:

(transitive, nautical) To fill in the contlines of (a rope) before parcelling and serving.


weigh

en-verb

weigh (third-person singular simple present weighs, present participle weighing, simple past and past participle weighed)

weighs (present singular third-person)
weighing (participle present)
weighed (participle past)
weighed (past)

From Middle English weghen, weȝen, from Old English wegan, from Proto-West Germanic *wegan, from Proto-Germanic *weganą (“to move, carry, weigh”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéǵʰeti, from *weǵʰ- (“to bring, transport”).
Cognates
Cognate with Scots wey or weich, Dutch wegen, German wiegen, wägen, Danish veje, Norwegian Bokmål veie, Norwegian Nynorsk vega. Doublet of wedge, wagon, way, and vector.

doublet

(transitive, nautical) To raise an anchor free of the seabed.

Towards the euening we wayed, & approaching the ſhoare [...], we landed where there lay a many of baskets and much bloud, but ſaw not a Salvage.

1624, Walter Russell, Anas Todkill, Thomas Momford, “The Accidents that hapned in the Discovery of the Bay of Chisapeack”, in Iohn Smith, The Generall Historie of Virginia, New-England, and the Summer Isles: […], London: […] I[ohn] D[awson] and I[ohn] H[aviland] for Michael Sparkes, →OCLC, book 3; reprinted in The Generall Historie of Virginia, … (Bibliotheca Americana), Cleveland, Oh.: The World Publishing Company, 1966, →OCLC, page 56:

Here we used to remain until nearly time for slack-water again, when we weighed and made for home.

1841, Edgar Allan Poe, A Descent into the Maelström:

(intransitive, nautical) To weigh anchor.


chip

→ Catalan: xip

→ Greek: τσιπ (tsip)

→ Italian: chip

→ Korean: 칩 (chip)

desc

→ Hebrew: צִ׳יפְּס, צִ׳יפּ

→ Hebrew: צִ׳יפְּס, צִ׳יפּ (chips, chip)

→ Hungarian: csip, csipsz

→ Turkish: cips, çip

→ Yiddish: טשיפּל (tshipl)

→ Welsh: tsip

Noun from Middle English chip, chippe, from Old English ċipp (“chip; small piece of wood, shaving”), from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) –, from Proto-West Germanic *kippōn (“to cut; carve; hack; chop”), from Proto-Germanic *kippōną (“to chip, chop”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵeyb- (“to split; divide; germinate; sprout”). Related to Dutch kip, keep (“notch; nick; score”), Dutch kippen (“to hatch”), German Low German kippen (“to cut; clip; trim; shorten”), German kipfen (“to chop off the tip; snip”), Old Swedish kippa (“to chop”). Compare also chop.
The formally similar Old English ċipp, ċypp, ċyp (“a beam; log; stock; post”), from Proto-Germanic *kippaz (“log; beam”) (whence Old Saxon kip (“post”), Old High German kipfa, chipfa (“axle, stave”), Old Norse keppr (“cudgel, club”)) is a different, unrelated word either borrowed from Latin cippus (“stake; pale; post”) or borrowed from the same source language as the Latin.
Verb from Middle English chippen, from Old English *ċippian (“to cut; hew”) – attested in Old English forċippian (“to cut off”) – see above.

cog

(nautical) The triangular piece of wood attached to the log line.


chip

en-verb

chip (third-person singular simple present chips, present participle chipping, simple past and past participle chipped)

chips (present singular third-person)
chipping (participle present)
chipped (participle past)
chipped (past)

chipata

to play a shot hitting the ball predominantly upwards

engine management system
engine management system

(transitive, automotive) To upgrade an engine management system, usually to increase power.


top

en-noun

top (countable and uncountable, plural tops)

From Middle English top, toppe, from Old English top (“top, highest part; summit; crest; tassel, tuft; (spinning) top, ball; a tuft or ball at the highest point of anything”), from Proto-West Germanic *topp, from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“braid, pigtail, end”), of unknown ultimate origin.
Cognate with Scots tap (“top”), North Frisian top, tap, tup (“top”), Saterland Frisian Top (“top”), West Frisian top (“top”), Dutch top (“top, summit, peak”), Low German Topp (“top”), German Zopf (“braid, pigtail, plait, top”), Swedish topp (“top, peak, summit, tip”), Icelandic toppur (“top”).
The sense of a spinning toy is separated from this, obscurely related to Dutch top and dop in this sense, against Standard Dutch tol, and French toupie having this sense.

頂上

chōjō, ちょうじょう

suprulo

BDSM: dominant partner in a BDSM relationship or roleplay

主動

gay sexual slang: gay man who likes to penetrate in sex

one's elevator doesn't go all the way to the top

(ropemaking) A plug or conical block of wood with longitudinal grooves on its surface, in which the strands of the rope slide in the process of twisting.


top

en-verb

top (third-person singular simple present tops, present participle topping, simple past and past participle topped)

tops (present singular third-person)
topping (participle present)
topped (participle past)
topped (past)

(nautical) To raise one end of (a yard, etc.), making it higher than the other.


TCP

(travel, aviation) Initialism of to complete party (followed by total number in group. Code used in OSI to advise an airline that other passengers are travelling with a person but are booked separately)


stuff

en-noun

stuff (usually uncountable, plural stuffs)

→ Irish: stuif

From Middle English stuffen (“to equip, furnish”), borrowed from Old French estoffer, estofer (“to provide what is necessary, equip, stuff”), borrowed from Old High German stoffōn, from Proto-West Germanic *stoppōn (“to clog up, block, fill”). More at stop.

materie

the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object

The master, at my earnest solicitation, examined his vessel, and though he prefers the coal tar, yet he told me, there were shells sticking on, and that a very thin coat of stuff, if any, remained.

1785, Pamphlets on British Shipping. 1785-1861, page 36:

On the last transverse planking, after: caulking and paying, he has laid on a coat of stuff, so hard when cold aš to resist a firm touch, and applied plain paper, then took heated band irons (such as women use) , and passed the iron from the centre of the sheet to the extremities, thus heating the stuff to make it adhere, pressing out the air, and laying it all flat and united with the course.

1822, William Annesley, A New System of Naval Architecture, page 31:

While the ships were placed in ordinary “a thick coat of stuff” was applied to the hulls, and their awnings might be spread or sheds erected to provide some protection from sun and weather.

2012, Thomas Williams, American Honor: The Story of Admiral Charles Stewart, page 561:

(nautical) A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.


AFC

en-noun

AFC (countable and uncountable, plural AFCs)

automated fare collection
w:automated fare collection

(transport) Initialism of automated fare collection (“system which regulates the collection of fares from passengers”).


strap

strap (countable and uncountable, plural straps)

→ Japanese: ストラップ (sutorappu)

From a variant of earlier strope (“loop on a harness”), from Middle English strope, stropp, from Late Old English strop, stropp (“a band, thong, strap; oar-thong”) and Old French estrope (“strap, loop on a harness”), both from Latin stroppus, struppus (“strap”), from Ancient Greek στρόφος (stróphos, “rope”) (compare strophe), from στρέφω (stréphō, “to twist”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *strebʰ- (compare Proto-West Germanic *stroppōn (“to twist, writhe”)). Cognate with Scots strap, strop (“strap, band, thong”), Dutch strop (“noose, strop, loop”), Low German Strop (“strap”), German Struppe, Strüppe, Strippe (“string, cord”), Danish strop (“strap”), Swedish stropp (“strap, loop”).

ремък

a long, narrow, pliable strip of leather, cloth, or the like

ивица

a narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass

A narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass.

(nautical) A piece of rope or metal passing around a block and used for fastening it to anything.


watch in two

(nautical) The practice of having two alternate watches aboard a ship or vessel.


commodore

→ Italian: commodoro

→ Portuguese: comodoro

→ Spanish: comodoro

Borrowed from Dutch kommandeur, from Middle French commandeur. See command, compare commend (a doublet), and mandate.

(military, nautical) A naval officer holding a rank between captain and rear admiral.

(nautical) A (temporary) commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral.

kommodori

a commander over a collection of ships who is not an admiral

(nautical) The leading ship in a fleet of merchantmen.

(nautical) The president of a yacht club.

(nautical) A yacht-club president's vessel in a regatta.

commodore admiral
commodore admiral#English

(military, nautical) Ellipsis of commodore admiral.

rear admiral (lower half)
rear admiral (lower half)

(US, military, nautical) A rear admiral (lower half).


taunt

en-adj

taunt (comparative more taunt, superlative most taunt)

more taunt (comparative)
most taunt (superlative)

Compare Old French tant (“so great”), French tant (“so much”), Latin tantus (“of such size, so great, so much”). See ataunt.

der

the great ships, for want of ſufficient masts, will lose the advantages the taunt masts would procure

1764, Duhamel du Monceau, The Elememts of Naval Architecture:


flotsam and jetsam

(nautical) The remains of a shipwreck still floating in the water.

(nautical) That which has been discharged from a ship or boat, especially on the ocean or a sea, (flotsam unintentionally and jetsam intentionally).


out of

From Middle English oute of, from Old English ūt of.

exterior to

Expressing motion away, literal or figurative; opposed to into.; So as no longer to be in a given condition or state.

without

Expressing motion away, literal or figurative; opposed to into.; From a thing or or place as a source, place of origin etc.

There's the Titanic out of Liverpool.

(nautical) Stating the port in which a boat has been registered.


naval

From Middle English naval, from Middle French naval, from Latin nāvālis; equivalent to navy + -al.

Conditions were horrendous aboard most British naval vessels at the time. Scurvy and other diseases ran rampant, killing more seamen each year than all other causes combined, including combat.

2012 March 12, William E. Carter, Merri Sue Carter, “The British Longitude Act Reconsidered”, in American Scientist, volume 100, number 2, page 87:

naval architect

(nautical) Of or relating to ships in general.


DVT

en-noun

DVT (countable and uncountable, plural DVTs)

driving van trailer
driving van trailer#English

(rail transport) Initialism of driving van trailer.


ceiling

From Middle English celing (“paneling; (bed) cover or hanging”), from celen (“to cover or panel walls”) (from Old French celer (“to conceal”)) + -ing (gerund-forming suffix). By surface analysis, ceil + -ing.

inh

(nautical) The inner planking of a vessel.


variable

Borrowed into Middle English in the 14th century from Old French variable, from Latin variare (“to change”), from varius (“different, various”). Equates to English vary + -able.

(nautical) A shifting wind, or one that varies in force.

(nautical, in the plural) Those parts of the sea where a steady wind is not expected, especially the parts between the trade-wind belts.


junk

From earlier meaning "old refuse from boats and ships", from Middle English junk, jounke, jonk, joynk (“an old cable or rope”, nautical term), sometimes cut into bits and used as caulking; of uncertain origin; perhaps related to join, joint, juncture. Often compared to Middle English junk, jonk, jonke, junck (“a rush; basket made of rushes”), from Old French jonc, from Latin iuncus (“rush, reed”); however, the Oxford English Dictionary finds "no evidence of connexion".

My physician has ordered me three pounds of minced salt-junk at every meal .

c. 1851-1852, James Russell Lowell, Leaves from My Journal in Italy and Elsewhere


junk

From Portuguese junco or Dutch jonk (or reinforced), from Arabic جُنْك (junk), from Malay or Javanese djong, variant of djung, from Old Javanese jong (“seagoing ship”), ultimately from either Hokkien 船 (chûn) or Teochew 船 (zung⁵), from Proto-Min *-džionᴬ (“ship, boat”).


apparel

en-noun

apparel (countable and uncountable, plural apparels)

From Old French apareillier. Doublet of parrel.

And if there is need of any thing, such as ship's apparel or other necessaries, and the merchants desire to purchase them, they may do so, and when the voyage is concluded, the merchants may claim for themselves the things which they have bought for the ship or vessel

1871, Travis Twiss, Black Book of the Admiralty:

(nautical) The furniture of a ship, such as masts, sails, rigging, anchors, guns, etc.


ensign

From Middle English ensigne, from Old French enseigne, from Latin īnsignia, nominative plural of īnsigne, meaning marked, distinguished. Doublet of insignia.

coronet

cavalry equivalent of the infantry ensign

first NATO commissioned officer grade above OF-0 trainee officer

But Alcibiades swiftly ran up the Athenian ensign on his flagship and bore down on that part of the Peloponnesian fleet which held the advantage and was pursuing the Athenians.

1960 [a. 120], Ian Scott-Kilvert, “Life of Alcibiades”, in The Rise and Fall of Athens: Nine Greek Lives, translation of original by Plutarch:

(nautical) The principal flag or banner flown by a ship (usually at the stern) to indicate nationality.


starboard

starboard (countable and uncountable, plural starboards)

From Middle English sterbord, stere-bourd, stere-burd, from Old English stēorbord, from Proto-West Germanic *steurubord, equivalent to steer + board (“side (of a ship)”), referring to ancient ships with the steering oar set to the right (to accommodate right-handed crew). Ships had to dock on their left (port) side because the steering oar on the right would get in the way, which is how the left became known as the port side.

(nautical) One of the two traditional watches aboard a ship standing a watch in two.


starboard

en-verb

starboard (third-person singular simple present starboards, present participle starboarding, simple past and past participle starboarded)

starboards (present singular third-person)
starboarding (participle present)
starboarded (participle past)
starboarded (past)

to starboard the helm

(nautical, transitive) To put to the right, or starboard, side of a vessel.


yard

en-noun

yard (plural yards or (UK colloquial) yard)

yards (plural)
yard (UK colloquial plural)

rod (unit)
yard
yard (disambiguation)
yard (sailing)
yardland

From Middle English ȝerde, yerd, ȝerd, from Old English ġierd (“branch; rod, staff; measuring stick; yardland”), from Proto-West Germanic *gaʀd, from Proto-Germanic *gazdaz. Cognate with Dutch gard (“twig”), German Gerte and probably related to Latin hasta (“spear”).

ráhno

nautical: tapered timber from which square sails hang

(nautical) A long tapered timber hung on a mast to which is bent a sail, and may be further qualified as a square, lateen, or lug yard. The first is hung at right angles to the mast, the latter two hang obliquely.


bark

→ Welsh: barc

From Middle English barke (“boat”), from Middle French barque, from Late Latin barca, a regular syncope of Vulgar Latin *barica, from Classical Latin bāris, from Ancient Greek βᾶρις (bâris, “Egyptian boat”), from Coptic ⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ (baare, “small boat”), from Demotic br, from Egyptian bꜣjrb-bA-A-y:r*Z1-P1 (“transport ship”). Doublet of barge, barque and baris.

Europeans would cross the ocean in large barks built for deck space and large holds.

(nautical) A vessel, typically with three (or more) masts, with the foremasts (or fore- and mainmasts) square-rigged, and mizzenmast schooner-rigged.

bark

three-masted vessel, foremast and mainmast square-rigged, mizzenmast schooner-rigged


flip a bitch

en-verb

flip a bitch (third-person singular simple present flips a bitch, present participle flipping a bitch, simple past and past participle flipped a bitch)

flips a bitch (present singular third-person)
flipping a bitch (participle present)
flipped a bitch (participle past)
flipped a bitch (past)

That's a cop up there! Flip a bitch and see if we can lose 'em.

I shut the door and concentrated on the checklist so that I could turn the aircrafts^([sic]) electrical system on and check the gauges for fuel or anything out of the ordinary. Every few seconds I felt the aircraft tug, as John towed the aircraft and I to the pumps. After checking the gauges, I was happy to find that both wing tanks were full, so I opened up the door, jumped out and ran ahead to tell John to flip a bitch and pull the bird back to the tower. At the tower I used the aircraft checklist to do a walk around inspection.

2010, J. L. Bourne, Day By Day Armageddon, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

“Can you flip a bitch and swing by the airport to pick me up?” It took me a minute to register what she was saying. “You're in Georgia?” Twisting around from the front seat, Griffin echoed my question.

2013, S.C. Stephens, Reckless, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

(US, slang, vulgar, automotive) To make a rapid and illegal U-turn.


pendant

From Anglo-Norman pendaunt, Middle French pendant, noun use of adjective.

(nautical) A short rope hanging down, used to attach hooks for tackles; a pennant.

igín

(nautical) short rope hanging down, used to attach hooks for tackles


up

down

antonym(s) of “away from the centre of the Earth”

down

antonym(s) of “towards the principal terminus”

From Middle English up, from Old English upp, from Proto-Germanic *upp, see more there.

(rail transport) Towards the principal terminus, towards milepost zero.

上りに

rail transport: the direction towards milepost zero


knot

From Middle English knotte, from Old English cnotta, from Proto-West Germanic *knottō, from Proto-Germanic *knuttô, *knudô (“knot”); probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *gnod- (“to bind”).
See also Old High German knoto (German Knoten, Dutch knot, Low German Knütte; also Old Norse knútr > Danish knude, Swedish knut, Norwegian knute, Faroese knútur, Icelandic hnútur; also Latin nōdus and its Romance descendants. Doublet of knout, node, and nodus.
* (unit of speed): From the practice of counting the number of knots in the log-line (as it is paid out) in a standard time. Traditionally spaced at one every ¹⁄₁₂₀ of a mile.

Cedric claimed his old yacht could make 12 knots.

(aviation, nautical) A unit of speed, equal to one nautical mile per hour.


toaster

→ French: toasteur

→ German: Toaster

→ Hebrew: טוסטר

ja-r

トースター (tōsutā)

→ Japanese: トースター (tōsutā)

→ Korean: 토스터 (toseuteo)

→ Polish: toster

→ Russian: то́стер (tóstɛr)

From toast + -er (agent noun suffix) or -er (patient suffix).

(automotive, informal, derogatory) Any of several small, box-like automobiles exemplified by the Scion xB and Honda Element.

No. 4020 shows off the aftereffects of the GE “toaster” phenomenon as it runs on the Joint Line north of the Air Force Academy (7/02/2023).

2023 July 2, Jim Griffin, “BNSF GE Power”, in ActionRoad.net:

Railfans often call GE Dash-9s as "toasters" which certainly applies to this locomotive.

2020 December 13, containerman2, “A GE "Toaster" Leads CN Train 406 West at Boundary Creek, NB on a Nice Sunny Afternoon”, in Youtube:

IIRC, it's usually a toaster (GE).

2007 October 1, tree68, “Fire out the stack”, in Trains Forums:

(rail transport, US, informal, derogatory) Diesel locomotives built by GE Transportation known for a propensity to catch fire, especially those showing previous fire damage

2021 December 15, Trains Staff, “News Photos: Toaster, California style”, in Trains:

The origin of the design led railroaders to dub the units “meatballs,” and its boxy appearance inspired railfans to call them “toasters.”

2018 March 29, Eric Berger, “Amtrak AEM-7 Preserved at Illinois Railway Museum”, in Railfan & Railroad:

Sometimes affectionately referred to as “toasters” and “Swedish meatballs” due to their compact, boxy design and Swedish origins, the AEM-7s first entered service in May 1980 and since then have traveled more than 220 million miles.

2016 June 20, “A Fond Farewell to the AEM-7”, in Amtrak: History of America's Railroad:

(rail transport, US, informal) An EMD AEM-7 electric locomotive


hooker

[T]he poor Flash is gone, and there is an end of it. Poor old hooker. Hey, Almayer? You made a voyage or two with me. Wasn’t she a sweet craft?

1896, Joseph Conrad, chapter II, in An Outcast of the Islands, London: T. Fisher Unwin […], →OCLC, part III, pages 182–183:

[…] for there was scarce one of us that thought the old hooker would weather so long and hard a blow. We were mighty fortunate to come through it so handily.

1914 October – 1916 July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Mucker, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., published 31 October 1921, →OCLC:

(nautical, slang, derogatory) Any antiquated craft.


step

From Middle English steppen, from Old English steppan (“to step, go, proceed, advance”), stepe (“step”), from Proto-West Germanic *stappjan, from Proto-Germanic *stapjaną (“to step”), *stapiz (“step”), from Proto-Indo-European *stebʰ- (“to support, stomp, curse, be amazed”).
Cognate with West Frisian stappe (“to step”), North Frisian stape (“to walk, trudge”), Dutch stappen (“to step, walk”), Walloon steper (“to walk away, leave”), German stapfen (“to trudge, stomp, plod”) and further to Slavic Polish stąpać (“to stomp, stamp, step, tread”), Russian ступать (stupatʹ) and Polish stopień (“step, stair, rung, degree”), Russian степень (stepenʹ). Related to stamp, stomp.

cog

a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind

(nautical) A framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft; specifically, a block of wood, or a solid platform upon the keelson, supporting the heel of the mast.

jalusta

nautical: framing in wood or iron which is intended to receive an upright shaft


step

en-verb

step (third-person singular simple present steps, present participle stepping, simple past stepped or (dated) stept or (obsolete) stope, past participle stepped or (dated) stept)

steps (present singular third-person)
stepping (participle present)
stepped (past)
stept (dated past)
stope (obsolete past)
stepped (participle past)
stept (dated participle past)

We put everything straight, stepped the long-boat's mast for our skipper, who was in charge of her, and I was not sorry to sit down for a moment.

(transitive, nautical) To fix the foot of (a mast) in its step; to erect.


large

en-adj

large (comparative larger, superlative largest)

larger (comparative)
largest (superlative)

From Middle English large, from Old French large, from Latin larga, feminine of largus (“abundant, plentiful, copious, large, much”), of uncertain ultimate origin; see there for more. Mostly displaced Middle English stoor, stour (“large, great”) (from Old English stōr) and muchel (“large, great”) (from Old English myċel).

cog

(nautical) Crossing the line of a ship's course in a favorable direction; said of the wind when it is abeam, or between the beam and the quarter.


make water

en-verb

make water (third-person singular simple present makes water, present participle making water, simple past and past participle made water)

makes water (present singular third-person)
making water (participle present)
made water (participle past)
made water (past)


maglev

A “moving platform” scheme[…]is more technologically ambitious than maglev trains even though it relies on conventional rails. Local trains would use side-by-side rails to roll alongside intercity trains and allow passengers to switch trains by stepping through docking bays. This set-up solves several problems […]. Stopping high-speed trains wastes energy and time, so why not simply slow them down enough for a moving platform to pull alongside?

2013 June 1, “Ideas coming down the track”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 13 (Technology Quarterly):

(rail transport) Describing a train, system, etc, that operates by magnetic levitation.


maglev

(rail transport) sort of train supported by magnetic levitation


junction

→ Bengali: জংশন (joṅśon)

→ Japanese: ジャンクション

/ˈd͡ʒʌŋkʃən/

From Latin iūnctiō (“union, joining, uniting”), from iungō (“join, attach together”). Equivalent to join + -tion.

der

In the mid-1930s, when Stalin was looking to make a statement with his new Metro, he consulted Underground engineers, who offered advice to the Russian Minister in charge of the Metro project, Nikita Khrushchev. He was severely told: 'Don't have a Circle Line - too many flat junctions.' Moscow did build a circle line, but with flying junctions, by which one track goes over another.

2012, Andrew Martin, Underground Overground: A passenger's history of the Tube, Profile Books, →ISBN, page 66:

(rail transport) A place where two or more railways or railroads meet.

(nautical) The place where a distributary departs from the main stream.


runner

From Middle English rennere, rynner, urnare, equivalent to run + -er. Cognate with Old Norse rennari (“runner; messenger”). Displaced earlier Middle English runel (“runner”), from Old English rynel (“runner”; also “messenger, courier”).

махови́к

mechanical part intended to guide or aid something else to move

(nautical, sailing) A rope to increase the power of a tackle.


Yankee

First attested in 1683, as a name applied disparagingly by Dutch settlers in Nieuw Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Dutch Janke (“Little John”), the old diminutive form of the common personal name Jan, or it may be from Jan Kees, the familiar form of "Johan Cornelius", or a variant of Jan Kaas, literally "John Cheese", the generic nickname the Flemings used for Dutchmen. It originally seems to have been applied insultingly to the Dutch, especially freebooters, before they turned around and applied it to the English. In English it was a term of contempt (1750s) before it came to be used as a general term for "a native of New England" (1765). The shortened form Yank was first recorded in reference to "an American" in 1778. James Fenimore Cooper suggested that it was a corruption of "English" via the intermediate form "Yengeese."

(nautical) A large triangular headsail used in light or moderate winds and set on the fore topmast stay. Unlike a genoa it does not fill the whole fore triangle, but is set in combination with the working staysail.


nuke

Clipping of nuclear weapon. The verb is derived from the noun.

(colloquial) vessel running on nuclear power

A nuke [nuclear submarine] can't survive with one flooded compartment. Any compartment that floods is going to kill you. Okay? Now, that's an acceptable risk because the nuclear hull is made of better steel. If a surface ship hits a nuclear submarine, the surface ship is going to sink, which we've demonstrated again and again. [...] In a nuke you come to periscope depth once a day, every two days.

2006, Dan Gillcrist, “Apples and Oranges”, in Power Shift: The Transition to Nuclear Power in the U.S. Submarine Force as Told by Those Who Did It, Lincoln, Neb.: iUniverse, →ISBN, page 145:

(nautical) A vessel such as a ship or submarine running on nuclear power.


nuke

en-verb

nuke (third-person singular simple present nukes, present participle nuking, simple past and past participle nuked)

nukes (present singular third-person)
nuking (participle present)
nuked (participle past)
nuked (past)

(transitive, US, nautical, colloquial) To overanalyze or despair unduly over something.


submarine

submarine (third-person singular simple present submarines, present participle submarining, simple past and past participle submarined)

submarines (present singular third-person)
submarining (participle present)
submarined (participle past)
submarined (past)

The seatback should always be up while driving so that the occupant doesn't submarine and potentially suffer severe internal injury.

(intransitive, automotive) To slide forwards underneath one's seat belt (during a crash or sudden stop).


fore-

From Middle English fore-, from Old English fore-, from Proto-West Germanic *forē-, from Proto-Germanic *fura-, *furai- (“before, in front of, for”), from Proto-Indo-European *per- (“before, formerly; through, throughout”).
Akin to Old Saxon and Old High German fora-, Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰- (faura-) (see 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰 (faura)), Dutch voor- (“fore-”).

inh

forecabin is a cabin located toward the front of a vessel, forebridge is a raised platform or pilothouse at the front of the bridge, foreboom is the boom of the foremast

Before with respect to position: front, ahead, leading, anterior.


tattoo

en-noun

tattoo (countable and uncountable, plural tattoos)

From earlier tap-to, borrowed from Dutch taptoe, from tap (“tap; faucet on a cask”) + toe (“to; shut”). More at tap, to.

Study goes on until tattoo, which, when Pops was at the Point, was sounded at 9.30, followed by taps at 10.

(nautical) A signal played five minutes before taps (lights out).


drop

From Late Middle English droppe, Middle English drope (“small quantity of liquid; small or least amount of something; pendant jewel; dripping of a liquid; a shower; nasal flow, catarrh; speck, spot; blemish; disease causing spots on the skin”) [and other forms], from Old English dropa (“a drop”), from Proto-West Germanic *dropō (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop (of liquid)”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰrewb- (“to crumble, grind”).

nb...

dropan, droupe, (Northern England) droipe

afval

small quantity of liquid, just large enough to hold its own round shape through surface tension

pisara

very small quantity of liquid, or of anything

pisara

that which hangs or resembles a liquid globule

pudotettu esine

(online gaming, video games) item dropped by a defeated enemy

aleneminen

decline in degree, quality, quantity, or rate

afgrond

A further point is, that the convenience of the ship herself may interfere with the disposition of sails. A high forecastle will shorten the drop of the foresail, and a poop may seriously interfere with the spanker.

1869, Richard W. Meade, A Treatise on Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding, page 117:

Her mainyard was 80 feet long, and her mainsail had a drop of 40 feet.

1969, Richard Armstrong, The Merchantmen, page 97:

Because this natural bulging was not adequate, the sails were deliberately made to round outward by cutting the cloths longer than necessary for the drop of the sail.

2020, John McKay, Sovereign of the Seas, 1637:

The distance through which something drops, or falls below a certain level.

(nautical) The depth of a (square) sail (generally applied to the courses only); the vertical dimension of a sail.


marry

en-verb

marry (third-person singular simple present marries, present participle marrying, simple past and past participle married)

marries (present singular third-person)
marrying (participle present)
married (participle past)
married (past)

From Middle English marien, from Anglo-Norman marïer, from Latin marītāre (“to wed”), from marītus (“husband, suitor”), from mās (“man, male”), of uncertain origin. Possibly from Proto-Indo-European *méryos (“young man”), same source as Sanskrit मर्य (márya, “suitor, young man”). Compare its feminine derivatives: Welsh morwyn (“girl”), merch (“daughter”), Crimean Gothic marzus (“wedding”), Ancient Greek μεῖραξ (meîrax, “boy; girl”), Lithuanian martì (“bride”), Avestan 𐬨𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 (maⁱriia, “yeoman”).) Displaced native Old English hīwian.

cog

უღლდება (uɣldeba) (uniting, joining together, literally meaning joining under yoke)

devil is beating his wife and marrying his daughter

(nautical) To place (two ropes) alongside each other so that they may be grasped and hauled on at the same time.

(nautical) To join (two ropes) end to end so that both will pass through a block.


complement

en-noun

complement (countable and uncountable, plural complements)

From Middle English complement, from Latin complēmentum (“that which fills up or completes”), from compleō (“I fill up, I complete”) (English complete). Doublet of compliment. The verb is from the noun.

der

(nautical) The whole working force of a vessel.


fireman

He looked around his cab at his black greasy fireman, saying 'shovel on a little more coal, and when we cross that White Oak Mountain, you can watch Old 97 roll'.

ca. 1913 The wreck of Old 97 [ballad, Blue Ridge Mountains], verse 3

No grass grew under a train when the engineer let Fireman McLash take the throttle.

1938, Xavier Herbert, chapter IX, in Capricornia, page 140:

A few keen enginemen, such as Driver Rosewarne of York, could coax good work out of them when engaged in heavy East Coast express service, but to most footplate crews, especially firemen, they were rather heartbreaking and backbreaking machines, and gradually were relegated to secondary or fast goods duties.

1949 May and June, R. A. H. Weight, “A Short-Lived Pacific Class”, in Railway Magazine, page 196:

I was elated to pass because there were times when I did not think I was physically capable. It is quite rare for a woman to become a fireman.

2013 August 24, Sophie Wyllie, quoting Tina Pinney, “Volunteer Tina steams ahead and becomes qualified fireman on North Norfolk Railway”, in Eastern Daily Press, →ISSN:

The driver remained at his post, while telling fireman Jim Nightall to get down on the track and run back to uncouple the burning wagon from the rest.

2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948:

(the latter is informal)

Coordinate term: engineman

(rail transport, nautical) A person (originally a man) who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler (originally, shoveling coal by hand), particularly on a railroad locomotive or steamship.

topič

person who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler

(rail transport, by extension) An assistant on any locomotive, whether steam-powered or not.


starter

The colour-light signals admitting directly to the platforms and the inner starters (for short-length departures well up the platforms) are two-aspect, while those immediately beyond them are three-aspect, but elsewhere four-aspect signals have been installed in association with route indicators.

1961 March, “The new Glasgow Central signalbox”, in Trains Illustrated, page 179:

(rail transport) A railway signal controlling the starting of trains from a station or some other location, more fully called a starter signal or starting signal.


single

→ Dutch: single

→ Finnish: sinkku

→ German: Single

→ Indonesian: singel

→ Japanese: シングル (shinguru)

→ Polish: singiel

From Middle English single, sengle, from Old French sengle, saingle, sangle, from Latin singulus, a diminutive derived from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Akin to Latin simplex (“simple”). See simple, and compare singular.

A few such examples have been preserved, as is well known, such as one of the Stirling 8-ft. singles of the late Great Northern Railway, the Great Western 4-4-0 City of Truro, ex-Caledonian single-driver No. 123, the Brighton 0-4-2 Gladstone, and others.

1945 March and April, “Preserving Historic Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 64:

(rail transport, obsolete) Synonym of single-driver.


bogie

A dialectal word from Northern England of unknown origin which is unrelated to bogey (“hostile supernatural creature; terrifying thing, bugbear”).

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

1878. Bogie Trucks for Railway Locomotives, &c.: [...] Fig. 1 is a cross section and Fig. 2 a section plan of a bogie. A curved casting a is fixed to the engine and a wrought-iron beam or beams b are connected to the bogie frames by links c fitted with or without springs d.

1883 April 13, “Abstracts of Specifications Published during the Week Ending November 24, 1883”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, J[ames] Dredge [Jr.], editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume XXXVI, London: Offices for advertisements and publication, 35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., published 30 November 1883, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 507, column 2:

The soil all along this portion of the route is so elastic and the line so straight and level that the train goes humming along without jar or vibration, and the sensation in these cars, with their six-wheeled bogies and well arranged springs, is more like what one imagines flying to be than a mere matter-of-fact railway journey.

1889, J[ames] A[rthur] Lees, W[alter] J. Clutterbuck, “The C.P.R. [Canadian Pacific Railway]”, in B.C. 1887: A Ramble in British Columbia, new edition, London, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, pages 57–58:

An empty train was by mistake sent into the rear of an ordinary train standing at the station Rathausbrücke. The two colliding car-ends were damaged and the bogie of the standing train was lifted off the supporting rail so that its wheels settled by the side of the rail. Neither train fell, however, and nobody was seriously hurt.

1908 May 1, “Miscellanea”, in W[illiam] H[enry] Maw, B. Alfred Raworth, editors, Engineering: An Illustrated Weekly Journal, volume LXXXV, London: Offices for advertisements and publication, 35 & 36, Bedford Street, Strand, W.C., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 585, column 3:

(by extension, rail transport, also attributively) One of two sets of wheels under a locomotive or railcar; also, a structure with axles and wheels under a locomotive, railcar, or semi which provides support and reduces vibration for the vehicle.

bogi

The bogie coaches which he spoke of last year had been brought or were being brought into active service, but they had no further wagon stock available.

1917 October 12, “Company Meetings. [Assam Railways and Trading.]”, in The Near East: A Weekly Review of Oriental Politics, Literature, Finance, and Commerce, volume XIII, number 336, London: The Near East Editorial and Publishing Offices, →OCLC, page 479, column 3:

Although we took our eight bogies along to Whitstable at 60 m.p.h., and made a clean start from there, after Herne Bay the engine primed badly on Blacksole Bank and nearly stopped before we got over the top. Then we ran like the wind across the marshes with half-regulator, 30 per cent cut-off, and the engine blowing off.

1959 April, P. Ransome-Wallis, “The Southern in Trouble on the Kent Coast”, in Trains Illustrated, London: Ian Allan Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 220:

Hard work is required from men and machines as I was to experience later when footplating Lambton No 5 on five bogies battling its way up Newtondale.

1979 August, Michael Harris, “A line for all reasons: the North Yorkshire Moors Railway”, in Railway World, page 415:

[...] Ashoke was still reading at two-thirty in the morning, one of the few passengers on the train who was awake, when the locomotive engine and seven bogies derailed from the broad-gauge line. The first four bogies capsized into a depression alongside the track.

2003 September, Jhumpa Lahiri, chapter 1, in The Namesake, New York, N.Y.: Mariner Books, published 2004, →ISBN, page 17:

(British, dated, India, rail transport) A railway carriage.


bottom

en-noun

bottom (countable and uncountable, plural bottoms)

→ French: bottom

PIE word
 *bʰudʰmḗn
From Middle English botme, botom, from Old English botm, bodan (“bottom, foundation; ground, abyss”), from Proto-West Germanic *butm, from Proto-Germanic *butmaz, *budmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (“bottom”). Cognate with Dutch bodem, German Boden, Icelandic botn, Danish bund; also Irish bonn (“sole (of foot)”), Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom of a cup or jar”), Sanskrit बुध्न (budhna, “bottom”), Persian بن (bon, “bottom”), Latin fundus (“bottom”) (whence fund, via French). The sense “posterior of a person” is from 1794; the verb “to reach the bottom of” is from 1808. bottom dollar (“the last dollar one has”) is from 1882.

سَالِب

gay sexual slang: penetrated partner in sex

We sail in leaky bottoms and on great and perilous waters; [...]

1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

My ventures are not in one bottom trusted.

c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

November 8, 1773, [first name not given] Bancroft, in Boston Post-Boy
Not to sell the teas, but to return them to London in the same bottoms in which they were shipped.

(nautical) Certain parts of a vessel, particularly the cargo hold or the portion of the ship that is always underwater.


bogey

Upgrading the tram bogeys to air-conditioned bogeys costs the State Government approximately INR 25,00,000/- per bogey.

2020 January 30, “Upgrading Kolkata's Tram Network”, in C40 Cities, archived from the original on 2024-02-25:

(British, dated, India, rail transport) Alternative spelling of bogie (“railway carriage”)


consist

The train's consist included a baggage car, four passenger cars, and a diner.

(rail transport) A lineup or sequence of railroad carriages or cars, with or without a locomotive, that form a unit.

編組

sequence of railroad carriages or cars that form a unit


coach

→ Czech: kouč

→ Danish: coach

→ Dutch: coach

→ French: coach

→ German: Coach

→ Italian: coach

→ Japanese: コーチ (kōchi)

→ Korean: 코치 (kochi)

→ Malay: koc

→ Polish: coach

→ Spanish: coach

→ Swahili: kocha

→ Swedish: coach

Borrowed from Middle French coche, from German Kutsche, from Hungarian kocsi. According to historians, the coach was named after the small Hungarian town of Kocs, which made a livelihood from cart building and transport between Vienna and Budapest.
The meaning "instructor/trainer" is from Oxford University slang (c. 1830) for a "tutor" who "carries" one through an exam; the athletic sense is from 1861.

(rail transport, UK, Australia) A passenger car, either drawn by a locomotive or part of a multiple unit.

կառք

wheeled vehicle drawn by horse power — see also carriage

The commanders all came on board and the council sat in the coach.

1660 May 13 (date written; Gregorian calendar), Samuel Pepys, Mynors Bright, transcriber, “May 3rd, 1660”, in Henry B[enjamin] Wheatley, editor, The Diary of Samuel Pepys […], volume I, London: George Bell & Sons […]; Cambridge: Deighton Bell & Co., published 1893, →OCLC:

(nautical) The forward part of the cabin space under the poop deck of a sailing ship; the fore-cabin under the quarter deck.


Jim Crow

/ˌdʒɪm ˈkɹoʊ/

From the minstrel show song Jump Jim Crow, written in 1828 by Thomas D. Rice, the originator of blackface performance.

When rails have to be bent with a Jim Crow, as in setting stock or check-rails, or straightening a bent rail, they should always be heated first, or they are liable to crack, especially steel rails.

1886, The Railway Engineer, volume 7, page 207:

It is placed on the rail pretty much as a jim-crow is set, and as the middle roll is turned it travels along on the rail, curving the rail as it moves.

1899, W. A. Smith, Railway Review, volume 39, page 16:

Quelling his nerves, Moist grabbed a jim crow and opened the trap door on to the roof of the guard's van, to the initial amazement of the grag who had been trying to force his way in.

2013, Terry Pratchett, Raising Steam, Doubleday, →ISBN, pages 345–346:

(rail transport) A tool for bending railway rails, by holding the rail with two arms and pushing a screw into the other side.


stern

Most likely from Old Norse stjórn (“control, steering”), related to stýra (“to steer”), from Proto-Germanic *stiurijaną, whence also English steer. Also possibly from Old Frisian stiarne (“rudder”), from the same Germanic root.

Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern.

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

(nautical) The rear part or after end of a ship or vessel.

shtreze

the rear part or after end of a ship or vessel


stern

en-verb

stern (third-person singular simple present sterns, present participle sterning, simple past and past participle sterned)

sterns (present singular third-person)
sterning (participle present)
sterned (participle past)
sterned (past)

(transitive, intransitive, nautical) To propel or move backward or stern-first in the water.


sub

* Shortened form of any of various words beginning with sub-.
* (lend a person money): From subsidize.


enlarge

enlarge (third-person singular simple present enlarges, present participle enlarging, simple past and past participle enlarged)

enlarges (present singular third-person)
enlarging (participle present)
enlarged (participle past)
enlarged (past)

From Middle English enlargen, from Old French enlargier, enlargir. By surface analysis, en- + large.

(nautical) To get more astern or parallel with the vessel's course; to draw aft; said of the wind.


slushbox

From slush + box, in reference to the fluid-coupling action of the torque converter. A popular notion portrays this action as "slushing around" that involves greater power losses than with manual transmissions, although the notion is a comic exaggeration.

The slushbox did nothing to improve an already sluggish response.

Slushboxes are taking over the scrub. Once scorned in the bush, the automatic gearbox today is more widely accepted in traditional four-wheel drive wagons. "Bush bashers go auto." The Sunday Telegraph. 2002 July 21. Pg. A05.

automatic transmission
automatic transmission#English

(slang, automotive) Synonym of automatic transmission.


patron

From Middle English patroun, patrone, from Old French patron, from Latin patrōnus, derived from pater (“father”). Doublet of padrone, Patronus, and pattern.


williwaw

The breeze in this case was the infamous north-Chicago williwaw that sometimes blows outward and bleacherward at Wrigley Field.

1982, Roger Angell, Late innings, Simon and Schuster, page 196:


term

From Middle English terme, borrowed from Old French terme, from Latin terminus (“a bound, boundary, limit, end; in Medieval Latin, also a time, period, word, covenant, etc.”).
Doublet of terminus and termon. Old English had termen, from the same source.

член

one of the addends in a sum or in another mathematical operation

(nautical) A piece of carved work placed under each end of the taffrail.


middle

en-verb

middle (third-person singular simple present middles, present participle middling, simple past and past participle middled)

middles (present singular third-person)
middling (participle present)
middled (participle past)
middled (past)

From Middle English middel, from Old English middel, middle (“middle, centre, waist”), from Proto-Germanic *midlą, *midilą, *medalą (“middle”), a diminutive of Proto-Germanic *midjō (“middle, midst”) (compare *midjaz (“mid, middle”, adjective)), from Proto-Indo-European *médʰyos (“between, in the middle, middle”). Cognate with West Frisian middel, Dutch middel, German mittel (“middle”, adjective), German Mittel (“middle, means”, noun), Danish middel (“means, agent, medicine; middle/medium”). Related also to Swedish medel (“means, medium”), Icelandic meðal (“means, medicine”). See also mid.

cog

(obsolete, nautical, transitive) To double (a rope) into two equal portions; to fold in the middle.


fluke

Mid-16th century in the sense of “anchor blade”. Probably the same word as in etymology 2 above or else a related word for something flat (cf. Proto-Germanic *flakaz). A derivation from Middle Low German vlögel (“wing”), from Proto-Germanic *flugilaz, seems phonetically impossible. If anything, related vlōch, vlucht (“flight”, both also “wing”) or even *vlunke (modern Low German Flunk (“wing, pinion”)) are more plausible candidates. Note that the kind of whale's fin is called Fluke in contemporary German, but this is likely from English.

The fluke of the anchor was wedged between two outcroppings of rock and could not be dislodged.

The honest, rough piece of iron, so simple in appearance, has more parts than the human body has limbs: the ring, the stock, the crown, the flukes, the palms, the shank. All this, according to the journalist, is “cast” when a ship arriving at an anchorage is brought up.

1904–1906, Joseph Conrad, chapter IV, in The Mirror of the Sea, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, published October 1906, →OCLC:

(nautical) Any of the triangular blades at the end of an anchor, designed to catch the ground.


bulwark

From Middle English bulwerk, from Middle Dutch bolwerk, bolwerc and Middle Low German bolwerk, equivalent to bole (“tree trunk”) + work. Cognate with German Bollwerk, Danish bolværk, Swedish bålverk, Dutch bolwerk. Doublet of boulevard (from French boulevard, from Dutch); cognate with Portuguese and Spanish baluarte and Italian baluardo.

Entering that gable-ended Spouter-Inn, you found yourself in a wide, low, straggling entry with old-fashioned wainscots, reminding one of the bulwarks of some condemned old craft.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 3, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 11:

(nautical) The planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale that reduces the likelihood of seas washing over the gunwales and people being washed overboard.

фалшбо́рд

nautical: planking or plating along the sides of a nautical vessel above her gunwale


regen

en-noun

regen (countable and uncountable, plural regens)

regenerative braking
regenerative braking#English

(uncountable, rail transport, automotive) Short for regenerative braking.


raise

en-verb

raise (third-person singular simple present raises, present participle raising, simple past and past participle raised)

raises (present singular third-person)
raising (participle present)
raised (participle past)
raised (past)

From Middle English reysen, raisen, reisen, from Old Norse reisa (“to raise”), from Proto-Germanic *raisijaną, *raizijaną (“to raise”), causative form of Proto-Germanic *rīsaną (“to rise”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rey- (“to rise, arise”). According to Kroonen (2013), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃er- (“to stir, rise”).
Cognate with Old English rāsian (“to explore, examine, research”), Old English rīsan (“to seize, carry off”), Old English rǣran (“to raise”). Doublet of rear.

whakahī

Referring to lifting the pitch of a musical note

hāpai

Of lifting an object to a higher elevation

hī

Refers to raising an eyebrow in scepticism

aradan qaldırmaq

(military) to remove or break up (a blockade); to relinquish (a siege), or cause this to be done

raise oneself up by one's own bootstraps

to raise Sandy Hook light

(physical) To cause to rise; to lift or elevate.

(nautical) To cause (the land or any other object) to seem higher by drawing nearer to it.


coupe

Borrowed from French coupe. Doublet of cup, hive, and keeve.

(US, Canada, automotive) A car with two doors (variant of coupé).


cap

Inherited from Middle English cappe, from Old English cæppe, from Late Latin cappa, itself from Latin caput. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *káput- and Proto-Indo-European *kap- (“head”). Doublet of cape, chape, and cope.

nalli

small amount of explosive used as detonator

(nautical) A collar of iron or wood used in joining spars, as the mast and the topmast, the bowsprit and the jib boom; also, a covering of tarred canvas at the end of a rope.


smoko

We saw the innards of a submarine, and afterwards, at smoke-oh, I entertained the men with my story of the bagman's battle with John Oliver O'Dowd.

1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber and Faber, published 2003, page 516:

2005, Lexie Simmons, Darrell Lewis, Kajirri, the Bush Missus, Central Queensland University Press, page 16,
This area was the general meeting place for all the Aboriginal workers who had some time to spare. The house girls took their smoko or lunch there and were soon joined by everyone else who′d stopped work after the smoko or lunchtime bell.

2007, Lewis Yerloburka O′Brien, Mary-Ann Gale (transcriber), And the Clock Struck Thirteen: The Life and Thoughts of Kaurna Elder Uncle Lewis Yerloburka O′Brien as told to Mary-Ann Gale, page 163,
One day Ox-head came up to us during smoko to have a yarn and to help himself to some lollies another bloke, Seth, had bought.

2008, Ann Jones, Put the Billy On, Glass House Books, Australia, page 85,
‘You chaps should have a camp this afternoon,’ Dad suggested as they finished their meal. ‘You must be tired out. There′s a couple of stretchers upstairs along the verandah. Have a camp on those and we′ll wake you for smoko,’ and the party dispersed until the bell was rung.

(colloquial, Australia, New Zealand and nautical) A cigarette break from work or military duty; a brief cessation of work to have a smoke, or (more generally) to take a small rest, snack etc.


broom

en-verb

broom (third-person singular simple present brooms, present participle brooming, simple past and past participle broomed)

brooms (present singular third-person)
brooming (participle present)
broomed (participle past)
broomed (past)

(nautical) Alternative form of bream (“to clean a ship's bottom”)


chaser

From chase (“groove; decorate metal”) + -er.

bow chaser; stern chaser


badge

→ Japanese: バッジ (bajji)

→ Korean: 배지 (baeji)

From Middle English badge, bagge, bage, bagy, from Anglo-Norman bage or Medieval Latin bagea, bagia (“sign, emblem”), of uncertain origin. Possibly derived from Medieval Latin baga (“ring”), from Old Saxon bāg, bōg (“ring, ornament”), from Proto-Germanic *baugaz (“ring, bracelet, armband”); or possibly the Anglo-Norman word is derived from an earlier, unattested English word (compare Old English bēag (“ring, bracelet, collar, crown”). Cognate with Scots bagie, badgie, bawgy (“badge”).

cog

(nautical) A carved ornament on the stern of a vessel, containing a window or the representation of one.


try

en-verb

try (third-person singular simple present tries, present participle trying, simple past and past participle tried)

tries (present singular third-person)
trying (participle present)
tried (participle past)
tried (past)
try (infinitive)

From Middle English trien (“to try a legal case”), from Anglo-Norman trier (“to try a case”), Old French trier (“to choose, pick out or separate from others, sift, cull”), of uncertain origin. It is probably related to Italian tritare (“to grind; to sort; to analyze”) (see also French trier). Alternatively, believed to be a metathetic variation of Old French tirer (“to pull out, snatch”), from Gothic 𐍄𐌹𐍂𐌰𐌽 (tiran, “to tear away, remove”), from Proto-Germanic *teraną (“to tear, tear apart”), from Proto-Indo-European *der- (“to tear, tear apart”), see tear. Related to Occitan triar (“to pick out, choose from among others”), although the Occitan verb could also be a borrowing from French. Alternatively or by confluence, the Old French is from Gallo-Roman Vulgar Latin *triare, of unknown origin.
Replaced native Middle English cunnen (“to try”) (from Old English cunnian), Middle English fandien (“to try, prove”) (from Old English fandian), and Middle English costnien (“to try, tempt, test”) (from Old English costnian).

cog

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔aɪ̯]

[t̠͡ɹ̠̊˔ʷaɪ̯]

don't try to teach grandma how to suck eggs

(nautical) To extract oil from blubber or fat; to melt down blubber to obtain oil

(nautical) To lie to in heavy weather under just sufficient sail to head into the wind.


foremost

From Old English formest, fyrmest (“earliest, first, most prominent”), from Proto-Germanic *frumistaz, from the locative stem *fur-, *fr- + the superlative suffix *-umistaz, stem ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pr-. The suffix *-umistaz was a compound suffix, created from the rarer comparative suffix *-umô (as in Old English fruma) + the regular superlative suffix *-istaz (English -est); *-umô in turn is from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.
Cognate with Old Frisian formest, Gothic 𐍆𐍂𐌿𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍄𐍃 (frumists). See for, first and Old English fruma for more. Partially cognate to primus, from Proto-Indo-European *pr- + Latin superlative suffix -imus, from Proto-Indo-European *-mHo-.
A comparative former was back-formed analogically, leaving the m from *-umô in place. Later the Old English suffix complex -(u)m-est was conflated with the word most through folk etymology, so that the word is now interpreted as fore + -most.

I let fall the tiller, turned my back on them, and sat down on the foremost thwart.

1900, Joseph Conrad, chapter 10, in Lord Jim, Edinburgh: William Blackwood, page 133:


gaff

From Middle English gaffe, from Old French gaffe, from Old Occitan gaf (“hook”), derivative of gafar (“to seize”), from Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐍆- (gaff-) derived from 𐌲𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (giban, “to give”). Doublet of gaffe.
The underwear sense apparently derives from the idea that the garment tricks or deceives others about the wearer's genitalia.

(nautical) The upper spar used to control a gaff-rigged sail.


dread

en-noun

dread (countable and uncountable, plural dreads)

From Middle English drede, dred, from the verb (see above). Cognate with Old Frisian drēd, drēde (“fear, dread”).

The Royal Navy sent six dreads and four BCs to intercept the German raiding force.

(military, nautical, historical, slang) Clipping of dreadnought.


sue

en-verb

sue (third-person singular simple present sues, present participle suing, simple past and past participle sued)

sues (present singular third-person)
suing (participle present)
sued (participle past)
sued (past)

From Middle English seuen, sewen, siwen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman suer, siwer et al. and Old French sivre (“to follow after”) (modern French suivre), from Vulgar Latin *sequere (“to follow”), from Latin sequi. Cognate with Italian seguire and Spanish seguir. Doublet of segue. Related to suit.

to sue a ship

(transitive, nautical) To leave high and dry on shore.


nip

From late Middle English nippen, probably of Low German or Dutch origin, probably a byform of earlier *knippen (suggested by the derivative Middle English knippette (“pincers”)), from Middle Low German knîpen, from Old Saxon *knīpan, from Proto-West Germanic *knīpan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *knīpaną (“to pinch”).
Related to Dutch nijpen, knijpen (“to pinch”), Danish nive (“pinch”); Swedish nypa (“pinch”); Low German knipen; German kneipen and kneifen (“to pinch, cut off, nip”), Old Norse hnippa (“to prod, poke”); Lithuanian knebti.


hover

hover (third-person singular simple present hovers, present participle hovering, simple past and past participle hovered)

hovers (present singular third-person)
hovering (participle present)
hovered (participle past)
hovered (past)
hover (infinitive)

Welsh: hofran

Royal Canadian Air Force
United States Coast Guard

The verb is derived from Middle English hoveren (“to float in the air, hover; to stay”), probably from hoven (“hover; of a bird: to fly high in the air, soar”) (which it displaced) + -er- (frequentative suffix). Hoven is probably derived from Old English *hōfian, from hōfon, the plural past indicative form of hebban (“to lift, raise”), from Proto-West Germanic *habbjan, from Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to lift; to heave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p- (“to hold, seize”). The English word is analysable as hove (“(obsolete) to remain suspended, float, hover; to linger, wait”) + -er (frequentative suffix).
The noun is derived from the verb.

suffix

(nautical) To travel in a hovercraft as it moves above a water surface.

kulkea ilmatyynyaluksella

to travel in a hovercraft as it moves above a water surface


pick

From Middle English piken, picken, pikken, from Old English *piccian, *pīcian (attested in pīcung (“a pricking”)), and pīcan, pȳcan (“to pick, prick, pluck”), both from Proto-West Germanic *pikkōn, from Proto-Germanic *pikkōną (“to pick, peck, prick, knock”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew-, *bu- (“to make a dull, hollow sound”). Doublet of pitch and peck.
Cognate with Dutch pikken (“to pick”), German picken (“to pick, peck”), Old Norse pikka, pjakka (whence Icelandic pikka (“to pick, prick”), Swedish picka (“to pick, peck”)).

inh

It's better to amble around, drop the "pick" for a lunchtime swim or beachcomb, then find a nice anchorage for the night.

2021 December 12, The Road Ahead, Brisbane, page 41, column 2:


royal

en-adj

royal (comparative royaler or royaller, superlative royalest or royallest)

royaler (comparative)
royaller (comparative)
royalest (superlative)
royallest (superlative)

From Middle English royal, from Old French roial (Modern French royal), from Latin rēgālis, from rēx (“king”). Doublet of regal (“befitting a king”), real (“unit of currency”), ariary, and riyal. Cognate with Spanish real. Displaced native Old English cynelīċ.

mbretëror

of or relating to a monarch or his family

royal mast;  royal sail

(nautical) In large sailing ships, of a mast right above the topgallant mast and its sails.

röijeli-

nautical: of a mast right above the topgallant mast and its sails


royal

in ten days after we spoke the Solon, so rapid was his recovery, that, from lying helpless and almost hopeless in his berth, he was at the mast-heId, furling a royal.

1840, R[ichard] H[enry] D[ana], Jr., “CHAPTER XXXV”, in Two Years before the Mast. […] (Harper’s Family Library; no. CVI), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers […], →OCLC:

(nautical, sailing) In large sailing ships, square sail over the topgallant sail.


trireme

From Latin trirēmis, from tri- + rēmus (“oar”).

(history, nautical, archaic) A galley with three banks of oars, one above the other, used mainly as a warship.


quartermaster

/ˈkwɔːtɚˌmɑːstə/

From Middle English quartermayster, quartermaistre, equivalent to quarter + master. Perhaps reinforced by and merged with Dutch kwartiermeester, kwartier-meester. Compare German Quartiermeister, French quartier-maître.

(nautical) A petty officer who attends to the helm, binnacle, signals, and the like, under the direction of the master. Once master of the quarterdeck.


bilgewater

en-noun

bilgewater (usually uncountable, plural bilgewaters)

(nautical) Water which collects in the bilges of a ship.

kielwater

nautical: water which collects in the bilges of a ship


aweather

en-adv

aweather (comparative more aweather, superlative most aweather)

more aweather (comparative)
most aweather (superlative)

From a- + weather; distantly cognate in structure to German Gewitter.

Helm aweather!

(nautical) On the weather side, or toward the wind; in the direction from which the wind blows (See upwind)


spiral

From Middle French spirale, from Medieval Latin spiralis, from Latin spira, from Ancient Greek σπείρα (speíra, “wreath, coil, twist”).

der

(rail transport) A section of track that forms a circle and crosses over itself, used for gaining height in mountainous territory.


awning

1615-25 (nautical sense only); from *awn + -ing, reduction of Middle French auvans (“sloping roof”), from Old French anvant (1180), from Gaulish *an(de)bannā (“eaves”) (compare Occitan ambans (“parapet”)), form of *ande- (intensive prefix) (compare Welsh an-, Old Irish ind-) + *bandā (“horn; peak”) (compare Welsh ban, Irish beann).

(nautical) That part of the poop deck which is continued forward beyond the bulkhead of the cabin.

luifel

that part of the poop deck which is continued forward beyond the bulkhead of the cabin


quay

→ Scottish Gaelic: cidhe

→ Bulgarian: кей (kej)

→ Macedonian: кеј (kej)

→ Serbo-Croatian: кеј

→ Serbo-Croatian: kej

The current spelling replaced the spelling key in the 1690s to emulate the spelling but (at least originally) not the pronunciation of the equivalent modern French quai. From Middle English kay, key, kaye, keye, from Old French kay, cail, from Gaulish *kagyum, cagiíun (“enclosure”), from Proto-Celtic *kagyom (“pen, enclosure”) (compare Welsh cae (“field”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kagʰyóm (“enclosure”). Doublet of hedge and hey (“choreographic figure”).

doublet

moor up in the quay

[…] its harbour was filled with stately ships; and its quays, swarming with foreign traders and loaded with bales of costly merchandise[…]

1879, F. D. Morice, Pindar, chapter 10, pp. 166-167:

(nautical) A stone or concrete structure on navigable water used for loading and unloading vessels; a wharf.

رَصِيف الْمِينَاء

structure for loading and unloading vessels


bilge

en-noun

bilge (countable and uncountable, plural bilges)

Likely derived from bulge. Compare Middle English bulgen (“to ground or scuttle a ship”).

cog

(nautical) The rounded portion of a ship's hull, forming a transition between the bottom and the sides.

(nautical) The lowest inner part of a ship's hull, where water accumulates.


bilge

en-verb

bilge (third-person singular simple present bilges, present participle bilging, simple past and past participle bilged)

bilges (present singular third-person)
bilging (participle present)
bilged (participle past)
bilged (past)

(nautical, intransitive) To spring a leak in the bilge.

(nautical, transitive) To break open the bilge(s) of.


devil

Tok Pisin: tewel

→ Chuukese: tefin

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *dwóh₁
Proto-Indo-European *dwísder.
Ancient Greek διά (diá)
Ancient Greek δια- (dia-)
Proto-Hellenic *gʷəlnō-der.
Ancient Greek βᾰ́λλω (bállō)
Ancient Greek διαβάλλω (diabállō)
Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos)bor.
Latin diabolusbor.
Proto-West Germanic *diubul
Old English dēofol
Middle English devel
English devil
From Middle English devil, devel, deovel, from Old English dēofol, dēoful, from earlier dīobul (“devil”), from Latin diabolus, ultimately from Ancient Greek διάβολος (diábolos, “false accuser, slanderer”), also as "Satan" (in Jewish/Christian usage, translating Biblical Hebrew שָׂטָן (śātān)), from διαβάλλω (diabállō, “to slander”), literally “to throw across”, from διά (diá, “through, across”) + βάλλω (bállō, “throw”). The Old English word was probably adopted under influence of Latin diabolus (itself from the Greek). Other Germanic languages adopted the word independently: compare Saterland Frisian Düüwel (“devil”), West Frisian duvel (“devil”), Dutch duivel, duvel (“devil”), German Low German Düvel (“devil”), German Teufel (“devil”), Bavarian Teifl (“devil”), Danish djævel (“devil”), Swedish djävul (“devil”) (older: djefvul, Old Swedish diævul, Old Norse djǫfull). Doublet of diable, diablo, and diabolus.

der

better the devil you know than the devil you don't know

better the devil you know than the one you don't know

he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon

the devil we know is better than the devil we don't know

the devil you know is better than the devil you don't know

(nautical) Ellipsis of devil seam.: The seam between garboard strake and the keel (a seam on wooden boats)


web

From Middle English webbe, from Old English webb, from Proto-Germanic *wabją, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“weave”).

what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive

(rail transport) The thinner vertical section of a railway rail between the top (head) and bottom (foot) of the rail.

ànima

the thinner vertical section of a railway rail between the top and bottom of the rail


motorcar

→ Maori: motokā

→ Swahili: motokaa

→ Luo: mtoka, mtokaa

(rail transport, US) A self-propelled railway vehicle.


block

→ Dutch: block

→ German: Block

→ Irish: bloc

→ Manx: block

→ Maori: poraka

→ Norwegian: blokk

→ Polish: blok

desctree

→ Russian: блок (blok)
→ Armenian: բլոկ (blok)
→ Yakut: блок (blok)

→ Spanish: block

→ Vietnamese: lốc

From Middle English blok (“log, stump, solid piece”), from Old French bloc (“log, block”), from Middle Dutch blok (“treetrunk”), from Old Dutch *blok (“log”), from Proto-West Germanic *blokk, from Proto-Germanic *blukką (“beam, log”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵ- (“thick plank, beam, pile, prop”). Cognate with Old Frisian blok, Old Saxon blok, Old High German bloh, bloc (“block”), Old English bolca (“gangway of a ship, plank”), Old Norse bǫlkr (“divider, partition”). More at balk. See also bloc, bulk.

طَابُوقَة

substantial often approximately cuboid piece

թաղամաս

group of buildings demarcated by streets

A logical extent or region; a grouping or apportionment of like things treated together as a unit.

(rail transport) A section of a railroad where the block system is used.


fin

Dutch language
German language
Latin language
Middle English language
Old English language
Old Irish language
Proto-Germanic language
Proto-Indo-European language
Sanskrit language
Swedish language
Tocharian A language
fin
fin (disambiguation)

From Middle English fin, from Old English finn, from Proto-Germanic *finnō, *finǭ (“dorsal fin”) (compare Dutch vin, German Finne, Swedish finne, fena), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pīn- (“backbone, dorsal fin”) (compare Old Irish ind (“end, point”), Latin pinna (“feather, wing, fin”), Tocharian A spin (“hook”), Sanskrit स्फ्य (sphyá, “splinter, staff”).

cog-lite

(nautical) The conning tower of a submarine.


broach

en-verb

broach (third-person singular simple present broaches, present participle broaching, simple past and past participle broached)

broaches (present singular third-person)
broaching (participle present)
broached (participle past)
broached (past)

(nautical, intransitive, of a submerged submarine, torpedo, or similar) To break the surface of the water.

torpedo; or similar; torpedo; or similar


merry-go-round

Possibly from go round (= rotate) merrily.

Some of the desirable characteristics of the "Merry-go-round" railway described in this article are found in the Tyne Dock-Consett iron ore traffic of the N.E.R. The ore is carried in high capacity wagons, run in trains of fixed formation. A triangle at the Consett works enables each train, complete with its locomotive, to be turned and sent back without any remarshalling after unloading to Tyne Dock. At the quayside, the wagons are mechanically loaded as a train and at Consett they run directly on to a gantry above unloading bunkers; they have air-operated bottom-discharge doors worked from the locomotive.

1963 January, G. F. Fiennes, “The "Merry-go-Round" railway - a new plan for mineral trains”, in Modern Railways, page 23:

Reshaping [of British Railways] initiated the development of what would become merry-go-round trains, delivering coal non-stop to power stations in newly built hopper wagons.

2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 48:

(rail transport) A freight train of hopper wagons which loads and unloads its cargo while moving, a balloon loop being provided at power stations.


aye

"Appears suddenly about 1575, and is exceedingly common about 1600." Probably from use of aye (“ever, always”) as expression of agreement or affirmation, or from Middle English a ye (“oh yes”), or synthesis of both. Compare Faroese ája (“certainly, ah yes”). More at oh, yea.

(nautical) a word used to acknowledge a command from a superior, usually preceded by a verbatim repeat-back.


mag

brand new tires and factory-original mags

(colloquial, automotive) Ellipsis of mag wheel.


pad

1554, "bundle of straw to lie on", probably from Low German or West Flemish pad (“sole of the foot”), perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pent- (“to pass”), which would make it related to both path and find.

unk

probably

let us at least trust that the hair-pins will do their duty, and maintain the respectability of passion by holding the pads and puffs and frizettes in their proper places.

1875, William Clark Russell, Jilted – Or My Uncle's Scheme:

(nautical) A piece of timber fixed on a beam to fit the curve of the deck.


ET

en-noun

ET (countable and uncountable, plural ETs)

(travel, aviation) Initialism of electronic ticket.

(travel, aviation, reservation system) End transaction, end of transaction (with transaction meaning an amendment in the reservation system in this sense).


tranny

tranny (countable and uncountable, plural trannies)

All are shortened forms of the indicated terms + -y.

Other incidents where the tranny suddenly locks up in high gear and requires that the car be restarted to return to normal.

2012, Phil Edmonston, Lemon-Aid Used Cars and Trucks 2012–2013:

(colloquial, automotive) A vehicle's transmission.


monitor

From Latin monitor (“warner”), from perfect passive participle monitus (“warning”), from verb monere (“to warn, admonish, remind”). Warship sense is from USS Monitor, the first ship of this type.

(nautical) A relatively small armored warship with only one or two turrets (but often carrying unusually large guns for a warship of its size), usually designed for shore bombardment or riverine warfare rather than open-ocean combat. [from 1862]


below

From Middle English bilooghe, equivalent to be- + low. Compare also earlier Middle English alogh, alow, aloȝ, alowe (“below”), benethen (“beneath”), Dutch omlaag (“downwards”).

The captain went below to inspect the engine.

the landlubbers lying down below

(nautical) On or to a lower deck, especially as relative to the main deck.


autobus

autobus (plural autobuses or autobusses)

From auto- (prefix meaning ‘self’, in the sense of being self-propelled) + bus. Sense 2 (“large group of cyclists who have fallen behind the peloton”) is borrowed from French autobus.

prefix

(road transport, dated) A bus that is a motor vehicle, as opposed to earlier horse-drawn buses.


heave-to

(nautical) To back-wind the jib and luff the main to hold a position especially in heavy seas.


beak

From Middle English bec, borrowed from Anglo-Norman bec, Old French bec, from Latin beccus, from Gaulish *bekkos, from Proto-Celtic *bekkos (“beak, snout”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bak-, *baḱ- (“pointed stick, peg”). Cognate with Breton beg (“beak”). Compare Saterland Frisian Bäk (“mouth; muzzle; beak”); Dutch bek (“beak; bill; neb”).

cog

(nautical) That part of a ship, before the forecastle, which is fastened to the stem, and supported by the main knee.

(nautical) A beam, shod or armed at the end with a metal head or point, and projecting from the prow of an ancient galley, used as a ram to pierce the vessel of an enemy; a beakhead.

éperon

metal point fixed on the bows of a war galley, used as a ram


driver

desctree

→ Japanese: ドライバー (doraibā)
→ Hakka: 多拉把 (tô-lai-pá, tô-lai-pà, tò-lái-pà)
→ Hokkien: 螺賴把／螺赖把 (lo͘-lài-bà)

→ Hokkien: 嚦峇／呖峇 (lē-bā)

→ Scottish Gaelic: draibhear

From Middle English drivere, dryvere, dryvare, equivalent to drive + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Drieuwer (“driver”), Dutch drijver (“driver”), German Low German Driever (“driver”), German Treiber (“driver”).

(nautical) a kind of sail, smaller than a fore and aft spanker on a square-rigged ship, a driver is tied to the same spars.


4x2 4-wheel vehicle with 2-wheel-drive(2WD)

(automotive) A four-wheel-drive vehicle with a four-speed transmission.

(automotive) A four-wheel vehicle with four-wheel drive.

(automotive, by extension) Any vehicle with four-wheel drive.


scuttle

Borrowed from Middle French escoutille (compare French écoutille), from Old Norse skaut (“corner of a cloth, of a sail”), or alternatively from Spanish escotilla, ultimately from Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃 (skauts, “projecting edge, fringe”), from Proto-Germanic *skautaz (“corner; wedge; lap”). Compare German Schoß, Old English sċēat. More at sheet.

der

(automotive) A drained trough between the windscreen and bonnet of a motor vehicle, forming the intake to the heating/air-conditioning system, often also containing the windscreen wiper motor.

(automotive) By extension, the bulkhead at the front of the passenger compartment.


scuttle

en-verb

scuttle (third-person singular simple present scuttles, present participle scuttling, simple past and past participle scuttled)

scuttles (present singular third-person)
scuttling (participle present)
scuttled (participle past)
scuttled (past)

(transitive, nautical) To cut a hole or holes through the bottom, deck, or sides of (as of a ship), for any purpose.


wishbone

(nautical) A spar in two parts, between which a sail is hoisted, the wishbone extending its clew.

(nautical) Any sailing vessel rigged with a wishbone.

(automotive) A suspension component similar in shape to a chicken wishbone.


nipper

nipper (third-person singular simple present nippers, present participle nippering, simple past and past participle nippered)

nippers (present singular third-person)
nippering (participle present)
nippered (participle past)
nippered (past)

(nautical, transitive) To seize (two ropes) together.


founder

founder (third-person singular simple present founders, present participle foundering, simple past and past participle foundered)

founders (present singular third-person)
foundering (participle present)
foundered (participle past)
foundered (past)

From Middle French fondrer (“send to the bottom”), from Latin fundus (“bottom”).

uder

We found a strong Tide setting out of the Streights to the Northward, and like to founder our Ship.

1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 82:

I was amazed when we came among the breakers (which to me seemed large enough to founder our ship), to see with what wondrous dexterity they carried us through them, and ran their canoes on the top of one of those rolling waves […]

1744, William Smith, A New Voyage to Guinea, page 167, quoted in The Diligent: A Voyage Through the Worlds Of The Slave Trade, Robert Harms, 2008

1932, Hart Crane, "From haunts of Proserpine" (Review of Green River: A Poem for Rafinesque, James Whaler
But still more disastrous was the storm which foundered his ship in Long Island Sound, swallowing within call of shore his fifty boxes of scientific equipment, his books, manuscripts and funds, the results of years of devoted labor.

(transitive, archaic, nautical) To cause to flood and sink, as a ship.


keel

From Middle English kele, from Old Norse kjǫlr, itself from Proto-Germanic *keluz, of uncertain origin. Displaced Old English ċēol from a related root. Distantly related to kile.

I hear the noise about thy keel;
I hear the bell struck in the night:
I see the cabin-window bright;
I see the sailor at the wheel.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto X:

(nautical) A large beam along the underside of a ship’s hull from bow to stern.

kallumë

(nautical) A rigid, flat piece of material anchored to the lowest part of the hull of a ship to give it greater control and stability.

кил

rigid flat piece of material giving a ship greater control and stability

The ladies remained at the house, while the men walked to the staith on the [River] Wear, and were shown the process of unloading the wagons into the keels by means of the coal-drop.

1948 January and February, “Notes and News: Duke of Wellington's Early Railway Journey”, in Railway Magazine, page 56:

(nautical) A type of flat-bottomed boat.


chase

en-noun

chase (countable and uncountable, plural chases)

From Middle English chacen, from Anglo-Norman chacer, Old French chacier, from Late Latin captiāre, from Latin captāre, frequentative of capere. Compare French chasser (“to hunt”, “to chase”), Spanish cazar (“to hunt”), Portuguese caçar (“to hunt”)
, see Norwegian skysse (“to hunt”).
Doublet of catch and related to capture.
Displaced native Old English ōht, ēhtnes, and wāþ. Broadly overtook Old English huntaþ.

(nautical) Any of the guns that fire directly ahead or astern; either a bow chase or stern chase.


chase

en-verb

chase (third-person singular simple present chases, present participle chasing, simple past and past participle chased)

chases (present singular third-person)
chasing (participle present)
chased (participle past)
chased (past)

(transitive, nautical) To pursue a vessel in order to destroy, capture or interrogate her.


spaghetti

en-noun

spaghetti (usually uncountable, plural spaghettis)

The noun is borrowed from Italian spaghetti, the plural of spaghetto (“dish of spaghetti; (rare) strand of spaghetti”), from spago (“cord, string, twine; thread”) + -etto (diminutive suffix). Spago is derived from Latin spagus (“twine”), probably from Ancient Greek σφάκος (sphákos, “apple sage (Salvia pomifera)”), probably from Pre-Greek.
The verb is derived from the noun.

مَعْكَرُونَة

type of pasta made in the shape of long thin strings

spagetti

something physically resembling spaghetti (sense 1) in appearance or consistency, or in being tangled

(by extension, uncountable, informal, often attributively) Something physically resembling spaghetti (sense 1) in appearance or consistency, or in being tangled.

(road transport) Roads forming a complex junction, especially one with multiple levels on a motorway.