overland

(travel) A trip by land between the UK and the Indian subcontinent or Australia, or between the UK and South Africa.


overload

/ˌəʊvə(ɹ)ˈləʊd/

/ˈəʊvə(ɹ)ˌləʊd/

We did haul overloads sometimes[.]

2000, Bob Foster, Birdum or Bust!, Henley Beach, SA: Seaview Press, page 60:

(automotive) An load of goods above the prescribed carrying weight of the vehicle.


grayslick

(US, dialect, Maine, nautical, rare) Glassy, calm seawater.


banyan day

According to the OED, the term is borrowed from the Banyans in the East Indies, a caste that ate nothing that had life.

This was a favourable circumstance in one respect to myself and the ship's company, for as Tuesday is a sumptuous day in point of allowance in the navy, beef and pudding being the prescribed fare for dinner, we by this accident feasted two days together; whereas had it occurred on a Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, two successive banyan (or starvation) days would have been our dismal portion.

1819, James Hardy Vaux, Memoirs of James Hardy Vaux, Chapter XVIII, p. 204-205:

(dated, UK, nautical, idiomatic) In British naval tradition, a day of the week when galley kitchens served no meat on board ship.

(UK, nautical, idiomatic) A picnic or cookout for the ship's crew.


hawsehole

The bolsters can be seen outboard of the hawseholes, and the way they are cut away to permit the passage of the anchor-cables.

1986, Jean Boudriot, The Seventy-four Gun Ship, page 59:

Then he saw. a few feet aft of the hawsehole, a darker spot on the hull—someone had left a porthole open below the forecastle. in the hold that was the crews' quarters.

2002, David Sherman, Demontech, Book 1: Onslaught, page 21:

Its overlapping steel plates and the empty hawseholes, from which the anchors will soon be suspended, are visible.

2004, Nelson H. Lawry, Glen M. Williford, Leo K. Polaski, Portsmouth Harbor's Military and Naval Heritage, page 86:

(nautical) The hole through which a ship's anchor rope is passed.

(nautical) A hole in a ship through which a hawser is passed.


speeder

Coordinate term: handcar

(rail transport) A motorized railroad track crew cart.


down line

If you miss a flight, the airline will likely cancel the down line.

(travel, aviation) the next and subsequent flights in an itinerary.


pea coat

desctree

→ Russian: пиджа́к (pidžák), пиджа́къ (pidžák) — Pre-reform orthography (1918), пинджак (pindžak), пинжак (pinžak), спинжак (spinžak)
→ Armenian: պիջակ (piǰak)
→ Azerbaijani: pencək
→ Chamalal: пи́ᵸджак (pı̇̃́džak)
→ Chinese:
Mandarin: 皮夾克／皮夹克 (píjiākè)
→ Georgian: პიჯაკი (ṗiǯaḳi)
→ Kyrgyz: пиджак (pidjak)
→ Mongolian:
Cyrillic script: пиджак (pidžak)
Mongolian script: ᠫᠢᠳᠵᠠᠺ (pidǰak)
→ Tajik: пиҷак (pijak)
→ Ukrainian: піджа́к (pidžák)
→ Uzbek: pidjak
⇒ Russian: пинжа́к (pinžák)
→ Azerbaijani: pencək
→ Belarusian: пінжа́к (pinžák)
→ Estonian: pintsak
→ Ingrian: pinžakka
→ Kazakh: пенжек (penjek)
→ Turkmen: penjek

(nautical) A coat of heavy, navy-coloured wool, originally worn by sailors of European navies.


pan

(rail transport, informal) Short for pantograph.


grist

en-noun

grist (countable and uncountable, plural grists)

From Middle English grist, gryst, from Old English grist, gyrst (“the action of grinding, corn for grinding, gnashing”), of obscure origin: possibly from a pre-Germanic substrate language, or from a derivative of Proto-Germanic *gredaną (“to crunch”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰer- (“to rub, grind”). Cognate with Old Saxon gristgrimmo (“gnashing of the teeth”), German Griesgram (“a grumbler, a grouch, peevishness, misery”), Old English gristel (“gristle”).

cog

(ropemaking) A given size of rope, common grist being a rope three inches in circumference, with twenty yarns in each of the three strands.


monotype

en-noun

monotype (countable and uncountable, plural monotypes)

From mono- + type or mono- + -type. The printing technique is so called because it allows only one impression to be taken.

(sailing) A sailboat designed to be crewed or raced by a single person.


loper

(ropemaking) A swivel placed at one end of the ropewalk, with the whirl being at the opposite end.


extractors

(automotive) A set of pipes fitted to the exhaust ports of an automotive engine, designed to increase its power output (essentially by altering gas pressures to get more fuel through it). https://web.archive.org/web/20060820191056/http://moonahmufflers.com.au/extractors/index.html


dry sump

(automotive) A type of engine sump where oil that flows down from the crankshaft etc is sucked up into an external reservoir (as opposed to a wet sump where it simply pools in a pan at the bottom of the engine).


handbrake turn

The man did a handbrake turn, putting the car into a wild spin.

2017, David Walliams [pseudonym; David Edward Williams], Bad Dad, London: HarperCollins Children’s Books, →ISBN:

(automotive) An automobile driving manoeuvre where the driver starts turning the vehicle and then pulls on the handbrake to make the rear tyres lose adhesion and thus cause the back of the vehicle to slide around (in the direction of the turn).

kangaroo stoppie

a similar maneuver with a motorcycle, to come to a stop and face the opposite direction


available ton mile

available ton mile (plural available ton miles)

(transport, aviation) tons of carrying capacity multiplied by miles travelled.


marline

en-verb

marline (third-person singular simple present marlines, present participle marlining, simple past and past participle marlined)

marlines (present singular third-person)
marlining (participle present)
marlined (participle past)
marlined (past)

From Middle English merlin, from Middle Low German marling, from Middle Dutch marlijn (“cord”), from marlen (“secure, fasten”), frequentative of maren (“to moor”), from Proto-Germanic *mairōną (“to moor, fasten to”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer-.

der

to marline a rope


hemi

combustion chambers
combustion chamber#English

internal combustion engine
internal combustion engine#English

(automotive) A motor with hemispherical combustion chambers. A piston engine internal combustion engine with hemispherical piston cylinder heads.

(automotive) A combustion chamber with the hemispherical cylinder head from such an engine.

(automotive) A hemispherical cylinder head from such a motor.

(automotive) A vehicle equipped with such a motor engine.


twinship

The Royal George, a twinship, was nearly as much approved of; and these two ships, by their fast sailing, were the principal, causes of the defeat of the enemy's fleets . . .

1837, Edward Pelham Brenton, The Naval History of Great Britain:

(nautical) Either of a pair of ships of exactly the same design


broad in the beam

Ah! She's not that old green launch with a yellow line, very broad in the beam?

1890 February, A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “The Baker Street Irregulars”, in The Sign of Four (Standard Library), London: Spencer Blackett […], →OCLC, page 145:

(nautical, of a ship) Wide across the hull.


ASROC

(US, military, nautical) Abbreviation of Anti-Submarine Rocket (an antisubmarine missile system)


Irish pennant

(British, nautical) A loose or untidy end of a line or other part of the rigging of a sailing ship


annunciator

(UK, railways) A buzzer in a signal box that sounds when a train activates a treadle positioned on the track, and thus provides a warning or announcement of a nearby train.


signaller

'We're recruiting an extra signaller for Nunthorpe, the only box [signal box] on the branch', says Chris Gee, Head of Operations - North at Network Rail in York. 'From December Nunthorpe will be staffed 24/7'.

2019 October, James Abbott, “Esk Valley revival”, in Modern Railways, page 77:


Galway

Anglicization of Irish Gaillimh, of uncertain meaning, said to mean "stony' (referring to the River Corrib). If so, it probably derives from Old Irish calad (“hard”); compare caillou, of Gaulish origin.

In England there are Brighton Beach boats, Centre-board sloops, Pollywogs, Lough Erne yachts, Unas, New Brighton sailing-boats, yachts of the Norfolk Broads, Itchen, Clyde sailing and Keystone boats, Penzance luggers, Cobbles, Galways, Hookers and Pookhauns […]

1884, James Douglas Jerrold Kelley, American Yachts: Their Clubs and Races, page 161:


firebox

From fire + box. In the sense of a redheaded woman, from box (“vagina”).

The firebox married to Britannia's boiler is not, however, in the Doncaster tradition, notwithstanding that it is comparable in dimensions to that of the "V2." […] Britannia's firebox would appear to have derived from those of the Bulleid Pacifics, which it closely resembles.

1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 273:

(rail transport) The chamber of a steam engine, or a steam locomotive, in which the fuel is burned.


neaped

(nautical) Left aground on the height of a spring tide, preventing floating till the next spring tide.


sea anchor

(nautical) A parachute-like device designed to slow down the speed of a drifting ship or boat and to keep its bow pointing to the wind.


booster

Another notable new series of locomotives, now in course of delivery to the Canadian National Railways, [...]. Fifteen are being built by the Montreal Locomotive Works Limited, and ten by the Canadian Locomotive Company, of Kingston, Ontario; the former are being provided with boosters and the latter are not.

1941 January, “Recent North American Locomotives”, in Railway Magazine, page 27:

(rail transport) A booster engine fitted to a steam locomotive.


make way

en-verb

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

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

(nautical, of a vessel) To progress through the water.


make way

(nautical) an instruction to get out of the way of someone else, usually because they are carrying something and need a clear pathway. Compare with gangway.


consolidator

(shipping) a business which groups different orders into one shipment.

(aviation, travel) a business which buys air travel tickets in bulk, then sells them at discounted prices.


constructor

From Medieval Latin cōnstrūctor, from Latin cōnstruō (“to build”). By surface analysis, construct + -or.

констру́ктор

in object oriented programming: code that creates objects

(automotive) A company or individual who builds racing vehicles. In Formula One, constructor status is strictly defined by the rules, but in other motorsports the term is merely a descriptor. Depending on the racing rules, some constructors (e.g. Cosworth) may provide vehicles to racing teams who are not themselves constructors, while others are both teams and constructors (Ducati Corse, Scuderia Ferrari).

rakentaja

in automotive: someone who builds racing vehicles


dodger

en-noun

dodger (countable and uncountable, plural dodgers)

(countable, nautical) A frame-supported canvas over the companionway (entrance) of a sailboat providing the on-deck crew partial cover from the splashes of the seas that break against the hull of the boat.

корабна тента

nautical: companionway cover in a sailboat


flag officer

(military, nautical) A naval officer with the rank of rear admiral or above. Such officers are entitled to fly a personal flag, especially on the flagship.


flag rank

flag rank (countable and uncountable, plural flag ranks)

(nautical, Royal Navy) The rank of a flag officer.


crabber

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

From crab (“crustacean having five pairs of legs”) + -er (occupational suffix) or + -er (relational noun suffix).

affix

In the bright haze of morning they came into Hort Harbor, where a hundred craft were moored or setting forth: fishermen's boats, crabbers, trawlers, trading-ships, two galleys of twenty oars […]

1972, Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore:

(nautical) A boat used for catching crabs.


derailment

en-noun

derailment (countable and uncountable, plural derailments)

The length ganger saw the train passing with the van derailed and promptly telephoned the Sandbach signalman, who restored his signals to danger, but not in time to stop the train before the final derailment occurred.

1961 November, “Talking of Trains: Derailment near Holmes Chapel”, in Trains Illustrated, page 652:

In retrospect, it was small wonder that Railtrack found its finances under pressure, as with ever increasing demand there was an inevitable effect on infrastructure renewals. Matters came to a head with the Hatfield accident on October 17 2000, when there was a high-speed derailment as a result of deferred track maintenance.

2024 January 10, 'Industry Insider', “Success built on liberalisation and market freedom”, in RAIL, number 1000, page 69:

(rail transport) The action of a locomotive or train leaving the rails along which it runs.


orlop

From Middle English overlop (“deck of a single-decker”), from Middle Low German overlop (“which leaps overhead”). Compare overloop.

der

VVhen you haue berthed or brought her [the ship] vp to the planks, vvhich are thoſe thicke timbers vvhich goeth fore and aft on each ſide, vvhereon doth lie the beames of the firſt Orlop, vvhich is the firſt floore to ſupport the plankes doth couer the Hovvle, thoſe are great croſſe timbers, that keepes the ſhip ſides aſunder, the maine beame is euer next the maine maſt, […]

1627, Iohn Smith [i.e., John Smith], “How to Build a Ship with the Definitions of All the Principall Names of Euery Part of her Principall Timbers, also How They are Fixed One to Another, and the Reasons of Their Vse”, in A Sea Grammar, with the Plaine Exposition of Smiths Accidence for Young Sea-men, Enlarged. […], London: […] Iohn Haviland, →OCLC, page 5:

(nautical) The platform over the hold of a ship that makes up the fourth or lowest deck, hence in full called orlop deck, especially of a warship.


befogged

en-adj

befogged (comparative more befogged, superlative most befogged)

more befogged (comparative)
most befogged (superlative)

[…] this morning he was close aboard the N. Coast, it seemeth high ragged land and full of guts, he was becalmed and befogged, and stood S. wards into the channell […]

1635, Luke Foxe, North-west Fox, London: Thomas Fawcet, page 171:

The fact is, he knew every rock, the set of every current at every season of the year, and in his younger days had often gone to the assistance of befogged vessels and piloted them safely into harbour or clear of the coast.

1912, Theodore Goodridge Roberts, chapter 20, in Blessington’s Folly, London: John Long, page 306:


marshalling

en-noun

marshalling (countable and uncountable, plural marshallings)

It is the first British yard in which every activity of hump marshalling, except for the driving of the hump locomotive and the uncoupling and coupling of wagons, is fully automatic or drastically simplified by modern aids.

1960 June, “Talking of trains: The new Margam yard”, in Trains Illustrated, page 323:

He wanted to see less marshalling of trains, and a move away from a culture that allowed 85% of a wagon's life to be spent "empty, being used as storage bins for goods or in sidings as coal scuttles".

2023 March 8, David Clough, “The long road that led to Beeching”, in RAIL, number 978, page 42:

(rail transport) The sorting of rolling stock in a marshalling yard.


uncheck

en-verb

uncheck (third-person singular simple present unchecks, present participle unchecking, simple past and past participle unchecked)

unchecks (present singular third-person)
unchecking (participle present)
unchecked (participle past)
unchecked (past)

(travel, aviation) To remove a previously checked-in passenger from the check-in system, allowing changes to the ticket.


HIP

Higher Intermediate Point
Higher Intermediate Point#English

(travel industry) Acronym of Higher Intermediate Point.


TTC

Toronto Transit Commission
w:Toronto Transit Commission

(Canada, transport) Initialism of Toronto Transit Commission.


bowse

bowse (third-person singular simple present bowses, present participle bowsing, simple past and past participle bowsed)

bowses (present singular third-person)
bowsing (participle present)
bowsed (participle past)
bowsed (past)

unk

unknown

(nautical) To haul or hoist (something) with a tackle.


bouse

en-verb

bouse (third-person singular simple present bouses, present participle bousing, simple past and past participle boused)

bouses (present singular third-person)
bousing (participle present)
boused (participle past)
boused (past)

unk

Of unknown origin.


boater

From Middle English botere; equivalent to boat + -er. The use of the term for a straw hat stems from the fact that straw hats were the preferred head covering during sunny boat trips on canals and rivers.

(nautical) Synonym of boatman, particularly its captain.


beamy

en-adj

beamy (comparative beamier, superlative beamiest)

beamier (comparative)
beamiest (superlative)

From Middle English beami, bemi, equivalent to beam + -y.

(nautical) Having much beam or breadth; wide.


put back

en-verb

put back (third-person singular simple present puts back, present participle putting back, simple past and past participle put back)

puts back (present singular third-person)
putting back (participle present)
put back (participle past)
put back (past)

The French […] had put back to Toulon.

1813, Robert Southey, The Life of Horatio, Lord Viscount Nelson:

(intransitive, nautical) To turn back; to return.


unentered

(transport, of goods) For which no documentation has been filed at the port being entered.


oysterman

(nautical) A boat used to dredge for oysters


racking

en-noun

racking (countable and uncountable, plural rackings)

(nautical) spun yarn used in racking ropes


hogframe

(nautical) A trussed frame extending fore and aft, usually above deck, and intended to increase the longitudinal strength and stiffness, used chiefly in American river and lake steamers.


even keel

[T]he rude winds died away; and gradually a light breeze sprang up directly aft, filling out every sail, and wafting us smoothly along on an even keel.

1855, Washington Irving, “The Bermudas”, in Woolfert’s Roost and Other Papers:

(nautical) The situation in which a watercraft is floating or proceeding in a smooth and level manner.


MR

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of Midland Railway.


paddle shifter

(automotive) Either of a pair of paddles, fitted to the steering wheel of a high-performance motor car, allowing the gears to be changed up or down in a single movement, and without using the clutch. It is a form of sequential shifter.


brake shoe

(rail transport) A hard friction-producing element which is pressed against the tread of a wheel to provide braking.


tallboy

By surface analysis, tall + boy, but the furniture sense may have been originally modeled after lowboy, related to French bois (“wood”).


disc brake

(automotive, British spelling) A type of brake where the friction is produced by brake pads which are pressed against a disc.


forecastle lamp

forecastle lamp (plural forecastle lamps)

(nautical) A lamp hung in the forecastle of a ship to allow sailors to work and relax after dark.


roll cage

(automotive) A frame built in or around the driver and passenger compartment of a vehicle to protect its occupants from being injured in an accident, particularly if the vehicle rolls over.


grouser

(nautical) A temporary pile driven into the bottom of a river to hold a boat in position; a spud.


greeter

From Middle English greter, gretter, equivalent to greet + -er.

Visitors are matched with a volunteer Greeter according to shared interests and languages spoken, and their 3-4 hours together is a combination of what the Greeter has to offer and the visitor wants to know.

1998, Proceedings from the Australian Tourism and Hospitality Research Conference, page 208:

The greeter system — a free service provided by volunteers — is popular in several cities throughout the world.

2013, John A. Richardson, Grey Nomads, page 75:

This tourism is based on tourists' quest for an 'authentic experience', by spreading throughout the entire city (admittedly with a predilection for gentrifying neighbourhoods), seeking 'off the beaten track' (but always secure) itineraries (Djament-Tran and Guinand, 2014; Maitland, 2013; Maitland and Newman, 2014), going for a walk with a local 'greeter' and, above all, staying in a local's home.

2017, Maria Gravari-Barbas, Sandra Guinand, Tourism and Gentrification in Contemporary Metropolises, page 54:

Many greeter associations now exist across the world.

2021, Isabelle Frochot, A Practical Guide to Managing Tourist Experiences:

(tourism) A volunteer who shows tourists around their home city or region for free.


drawrod

(rail transport) A rod which unites the drawgear at opposite ends of the car, and bears the pull required to draw the train.


drawspring

(rail transport) The spring to which a drawbar is attached.


drawhead

(rail transport) The flanged outer end of a drawbar.

(rail transport) A name applied to the drawgear.


drawgear

Although loads of up to 900 tonnes could be handled by one of these locomotives, in practice the load is limited to 790 tonnes by drawgear.

1961 February, “Letters to the Editor: Swiss railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 126:

(rail transport) The means or parts by which cars are connected to be drawn.


drawbar

(rail transport) An open-mouthed bar at the end of a car, which receives a coupling link and pin by which the car is drawn. It is usually provided with a spring to give elasticity to the connection between the cars of a train.

kytkin

open-mouthed bar at the end of a car which receives a coupling link and pin

(rail transport) A bar of iron with an eye at each end, or a heavy link, for coupling a locomotive to a tender or car.

(road transport) A device to couple a powered road vehicle to a load to transfer tractive effort to the load, either as a push or as a pull.


right-hander

(automotive) A bend or turn to the right; a right-hand corner.


Admiral of the Fleet

(nautical) The highest-ranking officer in the Royal Navy.


fantail

The Paranoids cast off, backed the Godzilla II out from the pier, turned and with a concerted whoop took off like a bat out of hell, nearly sending Di Presso over the fantail.

1966 March, Thomas Pynchon, chapter 3, in The Crying of Lot 49, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC, page 38:

(nautical) An overhanging deck at the stern of a ship.


signalize

en-verb

signalize (third-person singular simple present signalizes, present participle signalizing, simple past and past participle signalized)

signalizes (present singular third-person)
signalizing (participle present)
signalized (participle past)
signalized (past)

a ship signalizes its consort

(transitive, chiefly nautical) To communicate with (someone) by means of a signal.


flyby

(nautical) A sailby performed by a hydrofoil vessel while hydrofoiling.


cruise ship

(nautical) A passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are considered an essential part of the experience.


forepeak

(nautical) The part of the hold of a ship within the angle of the bow


first-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having at least 100 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 850–875, and weighing approximately 2,500 tons burthen.


first-rate

(UK, military, nautical, historical) A first-rate ship of the line.


finisher

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

Inside, the revised F-Type gets lightweight slimline seats and new chrome and aluminium trim finishers.


exploder

(military, nautical) A device to trigger explosions in torpedoes.


last mile

(logistics, transport) The final stage of delivery of goods, etc., from a distribution centre to the consumer, often involving greater effort or expense.


whale tail

the duck-tail spoiler was replaced with a whale tail for the US version of the Carrera.

1997, Bruce Anderson, Porsche 911 Performance Handbook, page 16:

(automotive, slang) A kind of large automotive rear spoiler.


LU

(UK, rail transport) Initialism of London Underground.


Pacer

diesel multiple unit
diesel multiple unit

(rail transport) A British lightweight railbus diesel multiple unit of class 140, 141, 142, 143 or 144.


lugnut

(automotive) A specially shaped nut used to hold the wheels on an automobile.


concurrency

en-noun

concurrency (countable and uncountable, plural concurrencies)

(transport, civil engineering) A stretch of road that is shared between two or more numbered or named routes.


seacock

(nautical) A valve in the hull of a vessel used to let in water, either to clean the bilges, flood a ballast tank, or scuttle the vessel


HSDI

(automotive) Initialism of high-speed (diesel) direct injection.


rail head

(rail transport) The top part of a railway rail; the part of the rail the wheel runs on.


car chase

Eventually, Monster Trucks sends its heroes racing against an evil corporation, on a mission to save Creech, his family, and the environment in general (which makes Creech’s appetite for sweet, sweet oil an especially puzzling detail) and to prove that car chases in kids’ movies can still proceed with the casual disregard for human life that adult audiences demand.

2017 January 12, Jesse Hassenger, “A Literal Monster Truck is Far from the Stupidest Thing about Monster Trucks”, in The A.V. Club:

(road transport) A chase, usually high-speed, between people in two or more cars or other vehicles, normally between the police or other law enforcement and an offender.

takaa-ajo

chase between people in two or more cars or other vehicles


reflectorize

en-verb

reflectorize (third-person singular simple present reflectorizes, present participle reflectorizing, simple past and past participle reflectorized)

reflectorizes (present singular third-person)
reflectorizing (participle present)
reflectorized (participle past)
reflectorized (past)

The department, upon registering a vehicle, shall issue to the owner two partially or fully reflectorized license plates or devices for a motor vehicle, other than a motorcycle, and one partially or fully reflectorized license plate or device for all other vehicles required to be registered under this code. https://web.archive.org/web/20070601034507/http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/vctop/d03/vc4850.htm

(US, traffic, transitive) To make reflective.


cast away

cast away (third-person singular simple present casts away, present participle casting away, simple past and past participle cast away)

casts away (present singular third-person)
casting away (participle present)
cast away (participle past)
cast away (past)

The mutineers cast away the ship's officers in the longboat.

Intelligence has been received at Hong Kong of the total loss of the ship Libelle while on a voyage to that port from San Francisco, having on board a valuable cargo and specie to the extent of £76,000 in dollars, and a number of passengers, among whom were Madame Anna Bishop, Miss Phelan, Mr. M. Schrutz, and Mr. Charles Lascelles, of the English Opera Company, who, with other artists, were on a musical tour. The ship was cast away on the night of the 4th of March, on an uninhabited and dangerous reef called Wake Island, in the China Seas.

1866 August 18, “LAST NEWS OF ANNA BISHOP”, in The Musical World, volume 44, number 33, London, →OCLC, page 521:


round robin

/ˌɹaʊnd ˈɹɒbɪn/

From round (adjective) + robin. Sense 1 (“senses relating to something with a round shape, or which goes around”) is connected with the word round, while sense 2 (“senses relating to people, animals, or plants”) is connected with some English regional senses of the word robin where it is used in the names of various fish and plants which are not related to the red-breasted bird. However, apart from the alliteration, it is not clear why the two words came to be linked together in compounds. It is possible that the term was first used to refer to sense 1.13.1 (“consecrated host”) which appears to be the earliest attested sense, and then extended to other senses either having the sense of round or robin.
Alternatively, it has been suggested that the term is a corruption of French ruban rond (literally “round ribbon”), referring to the practice in 17th-century France of signing on ribbons which were then attached to petitions of grievances in a circular manner: see sense 1.1. However, this etymology does not explain the senses of the term unrelated to a signed document.

der

Cut′too-plate. A hood above the nave or hub of a vehicle, to prevent the street mud from falling upon the axle and becoming ground in between the axle-box and spindle. Otherwise called a dirt-board, or round robbin. It is attached to the axle or bolster.

[1877, Edward H[enry] Knight, “Cut′too-plate”, in Knight’s American Mechanical Dictionary. […], New York, N.Y.: Hurd and Houghton […], →OCLC, page 669, column 1:

(also attributive) Senses relating to something with a round shape, or which goes around.

(obsolete, road transport) A rim attached to the end of an axle of a horse carriage to prevent dirt from obstructing the axle's rotation; also, a loop from which a component of a horse carriage (such as a pole or spring) is suspended.


cross-trees

Quick as thought, I sprang into the mizzen shrouds, rattled up hand over hand, and did not draw a breath till I was seated on the cross-trees.

1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island:

(nautical) Two horizontal beams at the top of the lower and top masts, used to spread rigging and as a standing place for sailors.


standard gauge

The city began as a local trading centre for north Chinese settlers at the end of the 18th century. It expanded rapidly and from 1905 to 1935 was a major junction and transshipment point between the Russian-owned broad-gauge Chinese Eastern railway and the Japanese-owned standard-gague South Manchurian railway. Ch’ang-ch’un was equipped with sizable railroad shops and also became the junction for railways extending westward into Inner Mongolia and eastward into northern Korea.

1964, Norton S. Ginsburg, “CH’ANG-CH’UN”, in Encyclopedia Britannica, volume 5, →OCLC, page 267, column 2:

(rail transport) A track gauge of 56.5 inches (1435 mm).


trow

en-noun

trow (countable and uncountable, plural trows)

(dated, nautical, countable) Any of several flat-bottomed sailing boats used for fishing or for carrying bulk goods.


downsizing

downsizing (countable and uncountable, plural downsizings)

Downsizing is one of the leading trends in automotive engine design.

(automotive) Reducing engine's capacity at same power or increasing engine's power without increasing capacity.

pienentäminen

reducing engine's capacity at same power or increasing engine's power without increasing capacity


SV

SV (countable and uncountable, plural SVs)

(nautical) steamship; Initialism of steam vessel.

(nautical) sailboat; Initialism of sailing vessel.


taughten

en-verb

taughten (third-person singular simple present taughtens, present participle taughtening, simple past and past participle taughtened)

taughtens (present singular third-person)
taughtening (participle present)
taughtened (participle past)
taughtened (past)

From Middle English toght (“stretched, strained, tight”).

inh

[…] then, waiting for low tide, we could taughten the chains again, and repeat the process till we got her ashore.

1876, R.M. Ballantyne, Under the Waves; or, Diving in Deep Waters, Reprint edition, Gutenberg Project, published 2007:

(chiefly nautical) To tighten; increase in intensity; to become taught.


diffuser

(automotive) A shaped section of a car's underbody which improves the car's aerodynamic properties.


freight-only

(rail transport) Describing a railway line that is used only by freight trains


passenger train

en-noun

passenger train (plural passenger trains)

The "Scotian" is hardly a passenger train at all: typically, it consists of two 1,750 h.p. diesel units, four fish cars, five parcel cars, two mail cars, a baggage car, two passenger coaches and a sleeper which only goes part of the way.

1959 November, J. N. Westwood, “The Railways of Canada”, in Trains Illustrated, page 553:

The programme would increase capacity and create space for 736 more passenger trains on the network each day.

2019 October, Tony Miles, “Midlands Connect's £3.5bn plan”, in Modern Railways, page 16:

(rail transport) A train whose primary function is to carry passengers.


outpoint

en-verb

outpoint (third-person singular simple present outpoints, present participle outpointing, simple past and past participle outpointed)

outpoints (present singular third-person)
outpointing (participle present)
outpointed (participle past)
outpointed (past)

(nautical) To sail closer to the wind than (another ship).


wide berth

Steer to port and give the rocks a wide berth.

(nautical) Adequate distance from sea vessels or other objects to ensure safety and maneuverability.

nautical: adequate distance from other objects

riittävä etäisyys (used with verb pitää)


cornfield meet

Either from the fact that early train collisions often occurred out in the country alongside a cornfield rather than in a station or siding; or from staged events where two old steam locomotives were purposely run head on at each other, often in an open field, for public entertainment. In the latter idea, the term may jocularly echo field meet as a spectacle in the field involving opposing contestants.

Do you think it's possible for two trains to have a cornfield meet right in the middle of an automatically protected block? Of course it is, if one of the hoggers is drunk or asleep at the throttle […]

1943, Railroad Magazine, volume 34, New York, N.Y.: Frank A[ndrew] Munsey Co., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 100, column 1:

One such instance when a conductor failed to follow a prescribed timetable resulted in a head-on smashup on the Long Island Railroad at the end of the Civil War. On August 28, 1865, General Grant and General Sherman collided in a pasture at Jamaica, New York. Five passengers were killed in this cornfield meet.

1968, Robert C[arroll] Reed, “Head-on Collisions”, in Train Wrecks: A Pictorial History of Accidents on the Main Line, New York, N.Y.: Bonanza Books, Crown Publishing Group, →OCLC, page 55:

[A] couple of passenger trains staged a cornfield meet in the deep cut on Mount Holly, which the road settled with "gratuities" amounting to $50,000. By this time the Rutland had built up enough fiancial stability to weather these incidents with a minimum of distress.

1997, Jim Shaughnessy, “The Hunted Traps the Hunter”, in The Rutland Road, 2nd edition, Syracuse, N.Y.: Syracuse University Press, →ISBN, page 26:

One hundred years ago, staged railroad accidents were popular events. […] "Head-on Joe" Connolly made a business out of "cornfield meets" holding seventy-three events in thirty-six years.

1998, Ian Savage, “Preface”, in The Economics of Railroad Safety (Transportation Research, Economics and Policy; 7), New York, N.Y.: Springer Science+Business Media, →ISBN, page xi:

[A 1899 man discovering ragtime:] Now they're writing music that sounds like a cornfield meet.

2007, Eddie Campbell, The Black Diamond Detective Agency: Containing Mayhem, Mystery, Romance, Mine shafts, Bullets, New York, N.Y., London: First Second Books, →ISBN, page 137:

(US, rail transport, euphemistic) An accidental head-on collision or near head-on collision of two trains.


head-on collision

en-noun

head-on collision (plural head-on collisions)

(transport) A collision where the front ends of two vehicles (such as ships, trains, cars, planes, etc.) hit each other, as opposed to a side-collision or rear-end collision.

челен удар

front end collision involving two vehicles


prize-taking

(dated, nautical) The capturing of an enemy ship at sea; this results in a payment to all hands from the Admiralty.


astronavigation

(nautical) Navigation by using the positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies


celestial navigation

(nautical) Navigation by using the positions of the stars and other heavenly bodies.

stjernenavigasjon

navigation by using the positions of the stars


stern chaser

(nautical) A gun or cannon mounted on the stern of a ship for firing at a pursuing vessel.


ahold

Lay her a hold, a hold, ſet her two courſes off to Sea againe, lay her off.

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

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(nautical, obsolete) (of a ship) Brought to lie as near to the windward as it can to get out to sea, and thereby held steady.


one under

2002, "Tube Troll", ">Incident @ Hangar lane tube <", uk.transport.london http://groups.google.com/group/uk.transport.london/browse_thread/thread/9a749f81e7f414b9/04825cc24c006db5?lnk=st&q=%22one+under%22+train&rnum=3#
The twist in this tale is that the driver (who was at the back and hadn't seen anything) booked off with stress (as drivers often do after a one under) and the guard who had been driving and witnessed the whold [sic] traumatic event had to creep into work the next day and pretend that nothing had happned...

About a one under on the Northern line.

2004, "Joe", "TV Alert: BBC3 9pm Trauma TONIGHT", uk.railway http://groups.google.com/group/uk.railway/browse_thread/thread/dacc3df5d74e3501/4b2dff0298b19cc4?lnk=st&q=%22one+under%22+train&rnum=39#4b2dff0298b19cc4

2005, "Neilw001", "'One under'", uk.transport.london http://groups.google.com/group/uk.transport.london/browse_thread/thread/2a2f71c4882d54ca/96db8446353aa28d?lnk=st&q=%22one+under%22+train&rnum=7#96db8446353aa28d
I've been on a train when some [sic] has gone under. Actually heard the thump and then the driver on the radio saying "I've got one under".

(rail transport, slang, British) A person under a train; a person hit by a train after jumping or falling in front of it.


shunter

Concurrent to this order, Good forged a link with Irish Railways, which resulted in the latter building five shunters with Brush equipment, marking the inception of dieselisation in the country.

2021 June 30, David Clough, “Brush: a UK rail icon”, in RAIL, number 934, page 55:

(rail transport, British) A railway locomotive used for shunting; a switcher.

The shunter has a lightweight portable radio transmitter by which, as he uncouples an incoming train into cuts for marshalling, he informs the Traffic Office of the number of wagons in each cut and its siding; [...].

1960 June, “Talking of Trains: The new Margam yard”, in Trains Illustrated, page 323:

(rail transport, British) A person who carries out shunting operations.

стрелочник

a person who carries out shunting operations


oversize

However, any increase in capacity is useful and, if an engine is worn and needs a rebore, it's worth considering boring to a near maximum size rather than simply having it bored to the next oversize.

2005, Daniel Stapleton, How to Plan and Build a Fast Road Car, page 14:

Have your local machine shop rebore the cylinders to the next nearest oversize and supply new pistons and rings to suit. Recommended rebore oversizes go up in increments of 0.25mm/0.010 inch. If the engine's already been rebored, you'll usually be able to find the oversize stamped in the piston crowns.

2006, Rod Grainger, Pete Shoemark, Mazda MX-5 Miata 1.8 1993 to 1999: Enthuasiast Workshop Manual:

(automotive) The increased size of the bore of an engine when it is rebored.


carabine

en-verb

carabine (third-person singular simple present carabines, present participle carabining, simple past and past participle carabined)

carabines (present singular third-person)
carabining (participle present)
carabined (participle past)
carabined (past)

From French carabine. Doublet of carbine.

(transitive, nautical or climbing) To attach via carabiner.


three-decker

(nautical, historical) A sailing warship that had guns on each of three decks.


rogue wave

Then one giant crest spills green water over the bow and stops our 100-ton vehicle as though it had ploughed into a gargantuan hay bale. . . . The rogue wave our experimental 78-foot craft hit must have been well over 10 feet high.

1974 June, Ben Kocivar, “75-knot ocean-going surface-effect ship”, in Popular Science, volume 204, number 6, retrieved 2015-10-28, page 91:

One of her owners, Mark Litchfield, was quoted by United Press International as saying a “rogue wave” might have knocked the ship over.

1984 June 4, Robert D. McFadden, “18 Missing, 1 Dead and 9 Rescued as Tall Ship is Lost near Bermuda”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-10-28:

Scientists still don't know exactly how rogue waves occur, nor do they know how to predict them.

2010 March 4, Bryan Walsh, “Cruise-Ship Disaster: How Do ‘Rogue Waves’ Work?”, in Time, retrieved 2015-10-28:

(nautical, surfing) An unexpected, dangerously large wave.


allide

allide (third-person singular simple present allides, present participle alliding, simple past and past participle allided)

allides (present singular third-person)
alliding (participle present)
allided (participle past)
allided (past)

The ship allided with the pier.

...the presumption operable here is the standard to which the operator is held: prudently navigated vessels do not allide with wharfs or moored vessels or aids to navigation.
...Implicit in the presumption is the standard of care to which an operator is held, i.e., prudently navigated vessels do not allide with fixed, charted structures.

1984 "United States. National Transportation Safety Board Decisions Volume IV: Enforcement Decisions in Aviation and Marine Cases. January 1, 1982 — December 31, 1984 pp 2020 — 2021

(nautical) To impact a stationary object.


return ticket

(travel) A ticket granting permission to travel to a place and return.

往返票

a ticket granting permission to travel to a place and back again


clear the decks

clear the decks (third-person singular simple present clears the decks, present participle clearing the decks, simple past and past participle cleared the decks)

clears the decks (present singular third-person)
clearing the decks (participle present)
cleared the decks (participle past)
cleared the decks (past)

(nautical) To remove, or fasten, all loose material, or partitions prior to a naval engagement.


maintop

(nautical) A platform at the top of a square-rigged vessel's mainmast; used for observation and for the attachment of rigging.


snakehead

(US, rail transport) A loose, bent-up end of one of the strap rails, or flat rails, formerly used on American railroads.


Vic

(slang, US, automotive) A Ford Crown Victoria automobile.


run around

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

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

(rail transport, of a locomotive) To move from one end of the consist to the other, so as to pull the train in the opposite direction.


emergency brake

en-noun

emergency brake (plural emergency brakes)


trimmer

(nautical) A member of the crew who trims the sails.

Trimmers are used to stow the coal in the vessel, and, in the case of vessels with awkwardly-situated cargo spaces, a great deal of trimming may be involved. Vessels specially constructed for coal carrying have very wide hatches, and these may be easy trimmers, that is, need only a minimum of trimmers or self trimmers which require only the final cover of coal over each hold to be levelled down by trimmers. Trimmers are employed by the shipowners and they are paid tonnage rates.

1945 January and February, T. F. Cameron, “Dock Working”, in Railway Magazine, page 11:

(shipping, historical) A person employed to rearrange the coal in the hold of a vessel, so that it fills the vessel without forming a conical blockage.


trainload

On February 14, Mr. S. F. Sanders observed two trainloads of football supporters from Bolton which were conveyed to Luton by Nos. 45710, Irresistible, and 45712, Victory, respectively.

1953 April, “Notes and News: Locomotive Notes: London Midland Region”, in Railway Magazine, page 285:

A surprisingly technical question from the audience on the possibility of working coal traffic in more substantial trainloads from pit to power station elicited the answer that the N.E.R. had hopes of more circuit working with specially designed high-capacity wagons on the style of the bogie 56-tonners used for the ore traffic between Tyne Dock and Consett, [...].

1961 April, “Talking of Trains”, in Trains Illustrated, page 195:

A new oil traffic in block trainloads, expected to amount to 150,000 tons of refined motor spirit annually for B.R., has begun between the Shell refinery at Stanlow and a new terminal built at Hunslet East in connection with Shell-Mex and B.P.'s expansion scheme at Knostrop, Leeds....

1962 November, “News in Brief”, in Modern Railways, page 306:

Has anything not gone to plan? "It is not possible to send a train load of humanitarian aid without a train load of bureaucracy to go with it. We live and learn...!"

2022 April 20, Tony Streeter, Paul Clifton, “Relief train from the UK takes aid to Ukraine”, in RAIL, number 955, page 29:

(rail transport) The amount that can be transported by a train.


tramper

A Greek ship wants 30 pounds of feta cheese, a British tramper requests five cases of steak and kidney pies, a Japanese auto carrier orders 75 pints of boiled octopus, […]

2005, Robert C. Keither, Baltimore Harbor: A Pictorial History, →ISBN, page 194:

(nautical) A ship, typically a bulk freighter, which does not travel on a fixed route; compare liner.


bay platform

The corridor includes the busy Oxford Road station, with its four through and one bay platform, and has a mix of local and long-distance trains as well as freight from nearby Trafford Park.

2020 January 2, Philip Haigh, “Is there relief to congestion along Castlefield Corridor?”, in Rail, page 22:

(rail transport) A platform that can be accessed from only one end; a dead-end platform.


trainman

Fourth, if there is a shortage of motive power or of trainmen, it is generally the lower orders of freight train which have to be curtailed or cancelled altogether.

1961 March, Warren Smith, “The problems of train regulation - a study of operation at Trent”, in Trains Illustrated, page 169:

(rail transport) A person who works on trains on a railway / railroad.


metacentric stability

(nautical) The tendency of a ship or other water-going vessel to remain upright due to its centre of gravity being below its centre of buoyancy, ie. basically having most of its weight down low.


rebirthing

rebirthing (usually uncountable, plural rebirthings)

2004, Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004 Year Book Australia, Number 86, page 325,
Other investigations include South-East Asian organised crime, money laundering and tax fraud on the Commonwealth, vehicle rebirthing and identity fraud.

They are also involved in cannabis dealing, vehicle theft, car rebirthing, currency counterfeiting and fraud.

2010, James Morton, Susanna Lobez, Gangland Australia, page 335:

New bosses were running things now – the hydro marijuana houses, the standover and the car rebirthing.

2010, Adam Shand, Big Shots: Inside Melbourne′s Gangland Wars, page 180:

(Australia, automotive, slang) The practice of transferring identifying parts of a wrecked car (registration plates, compliance plate, etc.) onto a stolen car of the same make and model, allowing the stolen car to be sold with the identity of the wreck.


lap sash seatbelt

lap sash seatbelt (plural lap sash seatbelts)

From lap (“upper legs of a seated person”) + sash (“length of cloth worn over the shoulder”) + seatbelt (“restraining belt”).

[…]automobile accidents in which a casualty occurred in Victoria (Australia) during 1973 and 1974, Nelson (1974) has stated that from a clinical point of view the current lap-sash seatbelt-head configuration is not reducing the incidence of whiplash injuries to a significant extent.

1976, International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering, Medical & Biological Engineering, volume 14, page 263:

From 4 years to about 11 years, a booster seat, initially with a harness (until about 6 years) and then with an adult lap/sash seatbelt, offers the safest option for car travel.

1994, Frank Oberklaid, Leah Kaminsky, Your Child's Health, page 457:

Once your child doesn′t fit into a child car restraint at around four years of age, a booster seat can be used with an adult lap/sash seatbelt.

2004, Carol Fallows, Shayne Collier, Commonsense Guide for Australian Parents, page 23:

A precise description of mechanism of injury can guide the examination, eg flexion/extension injury over lap sash seatbelt is associated with small bowel injury and lumbar vertebral fractures.

2007, Stuart Crisp, Jo Rainbow, Emergencies in Paediatrics and Neonatology, Oxford University Press, page 106:

Bruce pushed the ultralight out of the hangar; I climbed in and fastened the lap-sash seatbelt.

2012, S Bailey, J Bailey, Head Over Heels: A Story Of Tragedy, Triumph and Romance in the Australian Bush, unnumbered page:

(UK, Australia, automotive) A type of seatbelt which goes across the pelvis and then up and diagonally across the body; the conventional type found in most cars today.


underrun

en-verb

underrun (third-person singular simple present underruns, present participle underrunning, simple past underran, past participle underrun)

underruns (present singular third-person)
underrunning (participle present)
underran (past)
underrun (participle past)

(nautical) To pass along and under, e.g. a cable, for the purpose of taking it in or examining it.

(nautical) To separate the parts of (a tackle) and put them in order.


trainmaster

In the past, trainmasters were promoted brakemen or conductors who retained their union seniority.

Trainmasters are American officials, who perform duties somewhat akin to those of a British controller, but with obvious differences dictated by the different operating conditions in America.

1946 March and April, “The Why and The Wherefore: The Duties of Yardmasters, Controllers and Trainmasters”, in Railway Magazine, page 127:

(US, rail transport) A superintendent or supervisor of a freight railroad, responsible for train movements, crew assignments, derailments and more.


gadgetbahn

en-noun

gadgetbahn (plural gadgetbahns or gadgetbahnen)

gadgetbahns (plural)
gadgetbahnen (plural)

/ˈɡædʒɪtbɑːn/

/ˈɡæd͡ʒətˌbɑn/

/ˈɡædʒɪtˌbɑːnən/

/ˈɡæd͡ʒətˌbɑnən/

From English gadget + German Bahn (“route, trail; rail transport; train, tram”).

compound

To cite a favorite example of gadgetbahnen enthusiasts, automated train operation is as easily applied to conventional rail as monorails, as demonstrated by the Vancouver, BC, Skytrain (which uses standard railroad technology, not monorail as some Seattle monorail boosters apparently believe). […] To some extent, the promising concept of bus rapid transit (BRT) has also suffered from the "gadgetbahnen" mentality.

2002 November 25, Michael D. Setty, Leroy W. Demery, Jr., “Conventional Rail vs. ‘Gadgetbahnen’”, in Planetizen, Los Angeles, Calif., archived from the original on 2021-05-02:

Ken Avidor, a Minnesota transit advocate and critic of similarly proposed systems, called the project the latest iteration of "gadgetbahn," a play on "autobahn" the German word for freeway. Gadgetbahn refers to highly technological transport systems relying on untried innovations. "All of these gadgetbahn projects always rely on totally unrealistic cost estimates," he said.

2007 March 16, Marc Albert, “Newfangled rail system for Alameda Point questioned”, in The Alameda Sun, Alameda, Calif.: Eric J. Kos and Dennis Evanosky, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2013-05-22:

In transit communities, projects that sound complicated and unnecessary go by the German epithet "gadgetbahn." If early gondolas are successful, advocates hope gondolas can shake this label.

[2016 June 6, Josh Zumbrun, “Uphill climb: Cities push gondolas on skeptical commuters”, in The Wall Street Journal, New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-03-10:

Have you heard the word "gadgetbahn"? It's a portmanteau coined to describe transport proposals that, to all intents and purposes, ought to be delivered using proven railway technology … and yet go out of their way to be anything but a railway.

[2020 November 18, Gareth Dennis, “Can Cambridgeshire plan transform transportation?”, in Rail, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire: Bauer Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 64:

[I]t is important to remember that we have to design the railway now on the basis of current engineering possibilities, as opposed to unidentified and untested technologies – sometimes referred to as ‘gadgetbahns’ – that may or may not be available, suitable or safe in the future.

2021 April 28, “East West Rail Company responds over debate on northern approach into Cambridge, freight and technology”, in Paul Brackley, editor, Cambridge Independent, Milton, Cambridgeshire: Iliffe Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-04-28:

public transportation
public transportation

(transport, derogatory, slang) A public transportation scheme based on modern technology which seems to be infeasible or unnecessary.


reduced cat

(nautical) A version of the cat-o'-nine-tails (multi-tail whip), which has only five (instead of nine) 'tails' (thongs) of smooth whipcord.


black cat

en-verb

black cat (third-person singular simple present black cats, present participle black catting, simple past and past participle black catted)

black cats (present singular third-person)
black catting (participle present)
black catted (participle past)
black catted (past)

The team name derives from the Lynx wildcat of 702 Naval Air Squadron’s badge and also the naval slang of “Black Catting” which implies having done or owned something better than anyone else.

(Can we date this quote?), (Please provide the book title or journal name):

(nautical slang) To do better than another in some respect; to one up.


ECDIS

information system
information system#English

(nautical) Acronym of electronic chart display and information system.


pay out

pay out (third-person singular simple present pays out, present participle paying out, simple past and past participle paid out or (nautical sense, rare) payed out)

pays out (present singular third-person)
paying out (participle present)
paid out (participle past)
paid out (past)
payed out (participle past rare)
payed out (past rare)

(nautical, transitive) To slacken a rope by lengthening it; to allow a rope to run out.


ATOC

(rail transport) Acronym of Association Of Train Operating Companies.

Association of Train Operating Companies


pilothouse

The funnel projected through that roof, and in front of the funnel a small cabin built of light planks served for a pilot-house.

1899, Joseph Conrad, chapter 2, in Heart of Darkness:


wye

wye (third-person singular simple present wyes, present participle wyeing or wying, simple past and past participle wyed)

wyes (present singular third-person)
wyeing (participle present)
wying (participle present)
wyed (participle past)
wyed (past)

Attested as wi c. 1200. Of uncertain origin. Perhaps borrowed from Old French ui or gui.

Since the train didn't have a control cab at the other end, they wyed the train to turn it around for the trip back to the city.

Committee contend that when these trains are wyed at Springfield, the road passenger crews are performing yard work at that point to eliminate switching by yard crews.

(transitive, rail transport) To reverse the direction of a train using a wye.


torque steer

(automotive) The pull of a front-wheel drive car's steering to one side (i.e. away from straight ahead) when accelerating. This is an undesirable phenomenon and arises from the driveline components that take the engine's power to the two wheels.


dod

Shunting discs (or "dods") are generously provided, and following modern practice, most of them permit a movement in any direction for which the road is set.

1951 October, Norman Crump, “Signalling at Thorpe-le-Soken”, in Railway Magazine, page 649:

(rail transport, UK) A ground signal, such as a shunting disc.


goring

(nautical) Cut gradually sloping, so as to be broader at the clew than at the earing of a sail.


piped

Vacuum-fitted wagons are provided with complete vacuum-brake equipment; "piped" wagons have through pipes, enabling them to be marshalled in vacuum-braked trains without interrupting the continuity of the vacuum brake connections, but are not provided themselves with vacuum brake gear.

1946 March and April, “The Why and The Wherefore: "Fitted" and "Piped" Wagons”, in Railway Magazine, page 128:

(rail transport) Of a rail vehicle, having a through brake pipe, without the vehicle having brakes operating from it.


singling

[…] associated with this project would be the singling of the line from Selby to Shipton Lane, 2½ miles from Market Weighton, and the working of this section on the one-engine-in-steam principle, […]

1959 June, “Talking of Trains: North Eastern report”, in Trains Illustrated, page 293:

(rail transport) The reduction of a railway line from double-track to single-track.


stabled

(rail transport, of a rail vehicle) parked


hogged

en-adj

hogged (comparative more hogged, superlative most hogged)

more hogged (comparative)
most hogged (superlative)

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

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

(nautical) Broken or strained so as to have an upward curve between the ends.


hydroplaning

(automotive, US, Canada) The loss of contact with the road because of surface water. The act of aquaplaning.


swifter

(nautical) A rope used to retain the bars of the capstan in their sockets while it is being turned.

(nautical) A rope used to encircle a boat longitudinally, to strengthen and defend her sides.

(nautical) The forward shroud of a lower mast.


swifter

en-verb

swifter (third-person singular simple present swifters, present participle swiftering, simple past and past participle swiftered)

swifters (present singular third-person)
swiftering (participle present)
swiftered (participle past)
swiftered (past)

(nautical, transitive) To tighten (e.g. slack standing rigging) by bringing the opposite shrouds nearer.


milepost

(rail transport) A sign or post beside a railway marking the distance from the (actual or nominal) start of a line (usually the principal terminus or junction with a more major line)


clubhaul

clubhaul (third-person singular simple present clubhauls, present participle clubhauling, simple past and past participle clubhauled)

clubhauls (present singular third-person)
clubhauling (participle present)
clubhauled (participle past)
clubhauled (past)

From club + haul; derived from nautical clubbing (dragging an anchor along the seabed) and hauling (changing direction).

(transitive, nautical) To force (a sailing vessel) to change tack by dropping the lee-anchor and hauling in the anchor cable to swing the stern to windward.


arching

(nautical) hogging, as opposed to sagging


oiler

From Middle English oyler, equivalent to oil + -er.


town car

Her great-uncle was a wealthy man. The type who had a town car and who had a right-hand man to drive it.

en:type of automobile, 1908 to 1939 era, with open driver position

(automotive) A car having a kind of bodystyle produced from 1908 to 1939 with an external or open-topped driver's position and an enclosed compartment for passengers.

They called to get a town car sent out to the airport to pick up the visiting executives for the sales conference.

en:type of automobile, type of limousine, non-stretch

(automotive, informal) A hired non-stretch limousine, traditionally but not necessarily a standard-wheelbase Lincoln Town Car or Cadillac sedan.

(automotive, nonstandard) Synonym of city car.


dunderfunk

(obsolete, nautical) ship's biscuit broken up, mixed with molasses etc. and baked


unfitted

en-adj

unfitted (comparative more unfitted, superlative most unfitted)

more unfitted (comparative)
most unfitted (superlative)

Basically, heavy unfitted trains are hauled by ex-G.W.R, ex-L.M.R. or ex W.D. 2-8-0s and fast freights by "Halls" and "Granges", [...].

1963 January, Jeffrey P. Burke, “Railway crossroads of the north-west: Shrewsbury”, in Modern Railways, page 55:

(rail transport, dated, not comparable) Of trains, or wagons in the train, not having a through brake pipe, or brakes on the wagons that can be operated from the locomotive (the wagons did have handbrakes however).


decapod

Borrowed from French décapode, see deca- + -pod.

(rail transport) A nickname for either the 0-10-0 or 2-10-0 train configurations. Sometimes capitalized.


International Load Line

en-noun

International Load Line (plural International Load Lines)

(nautical) A mark on the hull of a merchant ship to show the waterline under specified conditions, indicating the maximum load that the ship may carry.


Porsche

en-proper noun

Porsche (countable and uncountable, plural Porsches)

Ferdinand Porsche
en:Porsche (disambiguation)

Borrowed from German Porsche
* (automotive): The surname of the founder, Ferdinand Porsche.

(automotive) The German sports car manufacturer founded in 1931 and based in Stuttgart. Full name: Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG.


Porsche

Mom drives an Accord, which is quite a surprise if you think about it. I guess that says something about her response to fame. Anyone can drive a Porsche once they have the cash.

2004, Gaby Triana, Backstage Pass, page 42:

a male undergoing a garden-variety mid-life crisis is disturbed not by his sexual appetites but by the lack of variety in his sexual partners. He is disturbed not by the crass materialism of his life but by the fact that he is still driving a Ford when he could and should be driving a Porsche.

2005, William Braxton Irvine, On Desire: Why We Want What We Want, Oxford University Press,, →ISBN, page 26:

I'm unstoppable / I'm a Porsche with no brakes / I'm invincible / Yeah, I win every single game

2016, Sia, Chris Braide, “Unstoppable”, in This Is Acting, performed by Sia:

I don't really want a white horse and carriage / I'm thinkin' more of white Porsches and karats

2018, “Girls Like You (Remix)”, in Red Pill Blues, performed by Maroon 5 ft. Cardi B:

(automotive) A car of this brand, reputably high-performance and expensive.


ghost island

(UK, road transport) An area of road surface marked with cross hatching as a means of separating traffic or reducing speed, or to provide a safe area to turn right across approaching traffic.


ULDB

ultra light displacement boat
ultra light displacement boat#English

(nautical) Initialism of ultra light displacement boat. Ultra lightweight racing sailboat that is especially fast when running downwind under spinnaker, developed and popularized in California, home of major downwind races.


four-foot

(rail transport) Alternative spelling of four foot


six foot

From the nominal distance of six feet between two adjacent railway lines in Great Britain.

Cattle are of course liable to stray on the line at these level crossings, but to prevent this, barriers are placed on each side of the crossing, and a deep trench is made in the four-foot and six-foot spaces, …

1882, George P. Neele, Atlantic and American Notes, M'Corquodale & co., limited, Page 54

Richardson dropped into the six-foot between the two engines, ran for a few yards, grabbed Mitchell's engine, and swung himself up. Mitchell had got to his feet by this time, but he made no move. Richardson shut off steam, reversed her, and brought her to a stand.

1950 January, David L. Smith, “A Runaway at Beattock”, in Railway Magazine, page 54:

He fell wildly, his head struck the carriage footboard with tremdous force, and he bounded into the six-foot, where he rolled over and over …

1981, Ludovic Henry, Coverly Kennedy, A Book of Raliway Journeys, Fontana, Page 21

2007 September 5, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Rail Accident Report 33/2007: Fatal collision between a Super Voyager train and a car on the line at Copmanthorpe 25 September 2006, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Deptarment for Transport, Page 20 http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources/070905_R332007_Copmanthorpe.pdf
As a result, all three wheelsets derails to the six foot side.

(rail transport, colloquial) the area between the closest rails of two parallel standard gauge railway lines, regardless of the actual distance.


four foot

From the 4 feet 8½ inch (1435 mm) distance between the rails on a standard gauge railway.

When placed in the four foot it should be so arranged that a loose carraige coupling shall not strike the box, as such a blow might possibly break it.

1877, William Edward Langdon, The Application of Electricity to Railway Working, Page 230

In this case, the third crossing i.e., where one turnout crosses the other, is in the four foot of the main

1922, J. Thomas Lee, William Hepworth, Railway Permanent Way: Dimensional Theory and Practice, C. Sever, Page 224

The reason for this is, that as in these cases there are obstructions in the four foot which might become foul of wheels of stock …
Page 48
For ‘ E ’ and ‘ F ’ switches the key jaw is provided on the inside of the four-foot in the 1.P. and 2.P. chairs, as in these chairs there is not room between the switch and stock rails …

1943, C. L. Heeler and Ronald Albert Hamnett, British Railway Track: Design, Construction and Maintenance, Permanent Way Institution Page 19

2007 September 5, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Rail Accident Report 33/2007: Fatal collision between a Super Voyager train and a car on the line at Copmanthorpe 25 September 2006, Rail Accident Investigation Branch, Department for Transport, Page 8 http://www.raib.gov.uk/cms_resources/070905_R332007_Copmanthorpe.pdf
The car came to rest with its front wheels in the four foot of the nearest railway line, the down Leeds line.

The importance of track workers obeying site rules has been stressed after a man was hospitalised after being hit by a moving road-rail vehicle (RRV) and falling into the 'four foot' between the rails.

2024 June 26, “Network News: RAIB stresses importance of road-rail vehicle vehicle safety procedures”, in RAIL, number 1012, page 17:

(rail transport, colloquial) the space between the rails on a standard gauge railway line.


Bradshaw

From Old English brād + sceaga (“thicket”), equivalent to broad + shaw.

He was at breakfast at nine, and for the twentieth time consulted his Bradshaw to see at what earliest hour Dr Grantly could arrive from Barchester.

The "5th Mo. (May) 1939" issue of Bradshaw's Railway Shipping, and Hotel Guide for Great Britain and Ireland appears in a cream cover printed in blue and gold, and a prefatory note explains that, as 1939 is being celebrated as the centenary year of Bradshaw, it is intended to adopt this livery from now until the September issue inclusive. For October, the centenary month, Bradshaw will be published in a gold cover printed in red and blue.

1939 June, “Railway Literature: Bradshaw's Guide”, in Railway Magazine, page 465:

(British, rail transport) A former railway guide and timetable published by George Bradshaw. Publication ceased in May 1961.


pan-pan

From French panne (“breakdown”), reduplicated.

It should be a relatively simple matter (particularly on a modern yacht) to teach almost anyone to heave-to, take the position from an electronic navigator, then make a PAN-PAN call on the radio (see below).

1996, John Mellor, Handling Troubles Afloat, page 179:

You can use the same outline for Pan Pan calls.

2005, Bob Armstrong, Getting Started in Powerboating, page 170:

If you transmit a Pan-Pan call, then find that you no longer require assistance, you must cancel the message.

2006, Elbert S. Maloney, Chapman Piloting & Seamanship, page 411:

(aviation, shipping) A radio call indicating a minor emergency requiring some assistance, or priority in handling, but not endangering the safety of the vessel or those aboard.


interurban

interurban car, interurban line, interurban railroad

On the steam roads, the engine, representing with its tender an enormous weight, is required to generate enough power not only for its own propulsion, but drag after it a train of cars. Several important consequences result from this difference between steam and electric traction. First, on the electric railway single cars may be used, taking their power as required under such headway as may be required to accommodate the traffic, while the steam engine must for the sake of economy be loaded somewhere near its capacity, so that the service is necessarily less frequent than that offered by the interurban.

1909, Thomas Conway (Jr.), The Traffic Problems of Interurban Electric Railroads, page 7:

Q. Took the interurban at Denison? A. Yes, sir. Q. And went from there to McKinney on the interurban?

1916, Records and Briefs of the United States Supreme Court, page 20:

The act was elective and included the hazardous employments listed (they fill 112 pages of print) and include railroads, mines, interurbans, logging, iron and steel manufacture, packing houses, construction work, etc., etc.

1919, Records and Briefs of the United States Supreme Court, page 117:

... but debits and credits arising from the operation of such street electric passenger railways, including railways commonly called interurbans, as are at the time of the agreement not under Federal control, shall be excluded.

(Can we date this quote?), Southern Pacific Company, Corporation Annual Reports to Shareholders, page 30:

Returning to Seattle we took the interurban to Everett, 32 miles north, $1.30 for the round trip

1927, The Union Pacific Magazine, volume 6, page 13:

In 1945, Vancouver had 347 street cars (not counting interurbans)

(Can we date this quote?), Canadian Transportation and Distribution Management, volume 53, page 15:

Why did people ride the interurban? No one knows. If you had asked a rider, he might have said "Fast, convenient, comfortable, economical“ – yet those are the same reasons that people give for riding in automobiles.

1960, Felix E. Reifschneider, Interurban Limited, page 8:

(rail transport, US) An electric railway carrying mainly passengers between two or more urban centres.


orlop deck

(nautical) An orlop, the lowest deck in a ship.


APTS

(transport) Initialism of Advanced Public Transportation Systems.


CMAQ

(transport) Initialism of congestion mitigation and air quality.


NTL

National Transportation Library
w:National Transportation Library

(transport) Initialism of National Transportation Library, part of the United States Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics.


IHVS

(transport) Initialism of intelligent vehicle highway systems.


AFCS

(transport) Initialism of automatic/automated fare collection system.


TRT

(transport) Initialism of Transportation Research Thesaurus.


rear-end

en-verb

rear-end (third-person singular simple present rear-ends, present participle rear-ending, simple past and past participle rear-ended)

rear-ends (present singular third-person)
rear-ending (participle present)
rear-ended (participle past)
rear-ended (past)

(transitive, automotive) Of a vehicle, to strike (another vehicle) from behind.

追尾

of a vehicle, to strike (another vehicle) from behind


maiden voyage

The Titanic hit an iceberg and sank on her maiden voyage.

For one thing, it was a maiden voyage, which always meant both passengers and staff were a little giddier, a little looser, than usual.

1998, Cynthia Bass, Maiden Voyage, Random House Publishing Group, →ISBN:

(nautical) The first trip of a vessel in its intended duty.


furball

[…]But, as with the furball that had broken out around San Francisco, things escalated once again, as Teruzuki rolled better on her perception check, ambushing Sterett and blowing enough holes in her to force the U.S. destroyer to withdraw.

2021 March 10, Drachinifel, 22:21 from the start, in Guadalcanal Campaign - The Big Night Battle: Night 1 (IJN 3(?) : 2 USN), archived from the original on 2022-11-07:

(military, aviation, nautical, slang) A large, disorganized battle involving many different aircraft (especially fighters) or warships.


nettling

en-noun

nettling (countable and uncountable, plural nettlings)

(ropemaking) A process, resembling splicing, by which two ropes are joined so as to form one rope.


go by the board

en-verb

go by the board (third-person singular simple present goes by the board, present participle going by the board, simple past went by the board, past participle gone by the board)

goes by the board (present singular third-person)
going by the board (participle present)
went by the board (past)
gone by the board (participle past)

(idiomatic, nautical) To fall or to go overboard; to be cast over the side of a ship.


red-eye

en-noun

red-eye (countable and uncountable, plural red-eyes)

The noun is derived from red + eye; sense 2.3 (“strong but poor-quality whiskey”) and sense 3 (“overnight airplane flight”) are probably so named because they may cause people to develop bloodshot eyes.
The verb is derived from the noun.

I waited too late to book my holiday flight, so I had to take the red-eye.

In fact, you don't see many business travelers on the redeye — the flights that leave West Coast cities after 10 p.m. and touch down at East Coast airports around 6 a.m. […] Redeyes tend to be full of leisure travelers, budget travelers, people involved in bicoastal romances and students.

1990 January 14, Martha T. Moore, “Who flies the ‘redeyes’?”, in The Herald Statesman, volume 126, number 36, Yonkers, N.Y., page G7:

Fortunately, most of these were former French colonies, and through a combination of quiet diplomacy and well-placed French nationals in the various air-traffic-control centers, the 300-mile-long stream of American aircraft flew the width of Africa as uneventfully as a red-eye flight from LAX to JFK.

1994, Tom Clancy, Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment, New York, N.Y.: Berkley Books, →ISBN, page 281:

The red-eye back to San Francisco was only about half full. Michael had a window seat and Willy stretched his six-foot-three inch frame out into the aisle as they waited for take-off.

2007, Ellen Klages, “Triangle”, in Portable Childhoods, San Francisco, Calif.: Tachyon Publications, →ISBN, pages 61–62:

He delighted in flying first class to New York on a red-eye and then putting in a full day's work. He functioned on pure adrenaline, often working twenty-hour days.

2014, John Glatt, “Up and Running: April to June, 1968”, in Live at the Fillmore East and West: Getting Backstage and Personal with Rock’s Greatest Legends, Guilford, Conn.: Lyons Press, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, page 136:

(countable, US, aviation, travel, colloquial, also attributively) An overnight airplane flight or train trip.


red-eye

en-verb

red-eye (third-person singular simple present red-eyes, present participle red-eyeing or red-eying, simple past and past participle red-eyed)

red-eyes (present singular third-person)
red-eyeing (participle present)
red-eying (participle present)
red-eyed (participle past)
red-eyed (past)

I flew in this morning, red-eying it in last night after hearing of this hearing, because what you are doing here is something that I am particularly interested in.

1988 January 28, “Witnesses: Roy Sampson, Portland, Oregon”, in Enforcement of the Indian Civil Rights Act: Hearing Held in Washington, D.C., January 28, 1988: […], [Washington, D.C.?]: United States Commission on Civil Rights, →OCLC, page 127:

When I arrived at the Center, Block's staff told me he had red-eyed it home from Alaska the night before; he had been surfing fifteen- to twenty-foot waves off the coast of Alaska.

2004, Brenda Hunter, “What is Cancer Saying about Our Lives?”, in Staying Alive: Life-changing Strategies for Surviving Cancer: […], Colorado Springs, Colo.: WaterBrook Press, Random House, →ISBN, page 25:

And though convinced she was making a fool of herself, she'd done as the frantic monk had begged, red-eyeing to Miami, island-hopping here.

2011, Glenn Kleier, chapter 7, in The Knowledge of Good & Evil, New York, N.Y.: Tom Doherty Associates, →ISBN, page 37:

(intransitive, aviation, travel, colloquial) Often followed by it: to travel on a red-eye (“an overnight airplane flight”).

lentää yön yli

to travel on an overnight airplane flight


AEB

en-noun

AEB (countable and uncountable, plural AEBs)

Advanced vehicle technologies, including automatic emergency braking and adaptive cruise control, were available as standard equipment for this truck-tractor; however, the carrier opted not to purchase these systems. We found that the collision may have been avoided or its severity lessened had these systems been installed on the truck-tractor. Because commercial vehicle customers can elect not to purchase collision avoidance systems, even those that are considered standard equipment, federal requirements are necessary to increase widespread deployment of this technology.

2024, NTSB, Highway Investigation Report, HIR-24-05:

(automotive, countable) Initialism of automatic emergency brake or autonomous emergency brake (a device in a car that brakes/slows a car, if the system believes a crash is imminent)

(automotive, uncountable) Initialism of automatic emergency braking or autonomous emergency braking (a technology/methodology used in cars to prevent crashes by activating the brakes)


slab

From Middle English sclabbe, slabbe, of uncertain origin; possibly from *slap, related to dialectal slappel (“portion, piece”), along with slape (“slippery”), sleip (“smooth piece of timber”), borrowed through Old Norse sleipr from Proto-Germanic *slaipaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)leyb-. See also Norwegian sleip (“slippery”) and Icelandic sleipur.


fall off

en-verb

fall off (third-person singular simple present falls off, present participle falling off, simple past fell off, past participle fallen off)

falls off (present singular third-person)
falling off (participle present)
fell off (past)
fallen off (participle past)

From fall + off; and also dissimilated from Middle English offallen (“to destroy, defeat, ruin, fail”), from Old English offeallan (“to fall upon, destroy”).

der

'Why d'ye see, Captain Vangs,' says bold Jack, 'I'm as good a helmsman as ever put hand to spoke; but none of us can steer the old lady now. We can't keep her full and bye, sir; watch her ever so close, she will fall off and then, sir, when I put the helm down so gently, and try like to coax her to the work, she won't take it kindly, but will fall round off again; and it's all because she knows the land is under the lee, sir, and she won't go any more to windward.'

1854, Benjamin Robbins Curtis, Lawrence v. Minturn, Opinion of the Court
She would not mind her helm, but would fall off; she would settle down aft and take in water over her stern, and plunged heavily forward.

The pilot-boy, who was on the look-out forward, and was keeping the boat from falling off by using the starboard oar, as the current went in a westerly direction, answered that he thought "it went a little easier forward."

1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 182:

There was the constant danger of the ship, now- broadside on to the heavy seas, falling off before the heavy wind, and leading the flames forward again.

1898, Kipling, The Burning of the Sarah Sands:

(nautical) To change the direction of the sail so as to point in a direction that is more down wind; to bring the bow leeward.


refit

en-verb

refit (third-person singular simple present refits, present participle refitting, simple past and past participle refitted or refit)

refits (present singular third-person)
refitting (participle present)
refitted (participle past)
refitted (past)
refit (participle past)
refit (past)

1669, uncredited translator, Memoires of Henry, D. of Guise, London: Henry Herringman, Book 5, p. 499,
[…] I discovered two Gallies making towards Nicita, whom I saluted with two Cannons, which I levelled and fired my self, so happily, that one of them being shot through between wind and water, was fain to go off to refit, and the other had three or four slaves killed.

As soon as we were out of danger, we came to anchor and refitted;

1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 9, in The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, volume 2, London: for the author, page 117:

A little to leeward of this was a small cluster of islands, where we were going to refit, abounding with delicious fruits […]

1847, Herman Melville, chapter 9, in Omoo:

“She’s a cargo ship, isn’t she?” she asked. “Goods, and that?”
 I nodded. “She hasn’t got anything in her now. She’s just come up from Falmouth in ballast. She’s come in to refit.”

1932, Nevil Shute, chapter 6, in Lonely Road, London: Heinemann:

The Leinster has been in use as a hospital ship and a transport, but is now released and is refitting for her regular service.

1946 March and April, “Notes and News: Anglo-Irish Steamship Fleets”, in Railway Magazine, page 118:

(intransitive, nautical) To prepare a vessel for use again (e.g. by replenishing depleted supplies or doing maintenance or repair work); (of a vessel) to be prepared for use again.


bead breaker

Lost in the middle of nowhere, he started to fix it by using his car-jack as a bead breaker, using the weight of the car to "gently" separate the bead from the rim.

(automotive) A tool or device used to separate the bead from a tire rim.


arm the lead

arm the lead (third-person singular simple present arms the lead, present participle arming the lead, simple past and past participle armed the lead)

arms the lead (present singular third-person)
arming the lead (participle present)
armed the lead (participle past)
armed the lead (past)

(obsolete, nautical) To fill the hollow in the bottom of a sounding lead with tallow in order to discover the nature of the bottom by the substances adhering.


cess

Possibly from an archaic dialect word meaning “bog”. According to the OED, from earlier suspiral (“water pipe, setting tank”).

In April 1923, he was working with a gang of five others in Glasgow on the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS). They were told to walk in the cess. But as it wasn't clear, they walked on the sleepers, each carrying a 70lb lifting screw on his shoulder. McGuinness was struck by a train and killed for want of a safe path.

2022 August 10, Dr Mike Esbester, “New understandings from old incidents”, in RAIL, number 963, page 58:

(rail transport) The area along either side of a railroad track which is kept at a lower level than the sleeper bottom, in order to provide drainage.


polacre

Uncertain; from either French polacre (“Pole, Polish”) or Italian polacca (“Polish woman, Polish (feminine adj)”).

Before the Princess went to Palestine, do you know in what part of the polacre she slept?

1820, J. H. Adolphus, editor, A Correct, Full, and Impartial Report, of the Trial of Her Majesty, Caroline, Queen Consort of Great Britain, Before the House of Peers; on the Bill of Pains and Penalties, page 95:

If that be so with respect to the Aum case, what shall we say to the case now established in proof onboard the polacre; that case which they have been unable by any evidence to shake, or by any observation to destroy?

1822, The Annual Register, or a View of the History, Politics, and Literature, of the Year 1822, Part 2, page 1137:

As he approached the polacre he was surprised to see a Union Jack being hung over her gunwale.

2007, David Cordingly, Cochrane the Dauntless: The Life and Adventures of Thomas Cochrane, 1775-1860, page 138:

(nautical, obsolete or historical) A 17th-century three-masted merchant ship.


forge over

forge over (third-person singular simple present forges over, present participle forging over, simple past and past participle forged over)

forges over (present singular third-person)
forging over (participle present)
forged over (participle past)
forged over (past)

When the morning broke, they found that the vessel had forged over the reef, about four or five miles, not having more than two feet water; the reef extending for nine or ten miles to the S.E.

1857, Chris Biden, Want of a Light on the Pratas Shoal:

(nautical) To press on regardless of hindrances.


full speed ahead

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!

We had advanced a hundred yards, perhaps, when our first danger confronted us. Just ahead was a sharp right-angle turn in the tunnel. I could see the river's flotsam hurtling against the rocky wall upon the left as it was driven on by the mighty current, and I feared for the safety of the U-33 in making so sharp a turn under such adverse conditions; but there was nothing for it but to try. I didn't warn my fellows of the danger--it could have but caused them useless apprehension, for if we were to be smashed against the rocky wall, no power on earth could avert the quick end that would come to us. I gave the command full speed ahead and went charging toward the menace. I was forced to approach the dangerous left-hand wall in order to make the turn, and I depended upon the power of the motors to carry us through the surging waters in safety.

1918 September–November, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “The Land That Time Forgot”, in The Blue Book Magazine, Chicago, Ill.: Story-press Corp., →OCLC; republished as chapter IV, in Hugo Gernsback, editor, Amazing Stories, (please specify |part=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Experimenter Publishing, 1927, →OCLC:

(usually nautical) A command to move forward at maximum speed.


full speed ahead

Then he gave it full speed ahead, and shot us into the inlet.

(usually nautical) Maximum speed on a ship.


bibbs

(nautical) Pieces of timber bolted to certain parts of a mast to support the trestletrees.


tye

(nautical) A chain or rope, one end of which passes through the mast, and is made fast to the center of a yard; the other end is attached to a tackle, by means of which the yard is hoisted or lowered.


water injection

(automotive, aviation) The process of squirting a small amount of water, in the form of a fine spray, into the air/fuel mixture going into a gasoline piston engine, in order to cool the engine cylinders, and, thereby, reduce detonation or knocking in high performance engines, especially when using a high compression ratio.


LMC

(rail transport) The station code of Lok Ma Chau in Hong Kong.


LMC

(travel, dated) Initialism of let message (to) call (back).


pantograph

From French pantographe, from panto- (from Ancient Greek παντός (pantós), genitive singular of πᾶν (pân, “all”)), and -graphe (from γράφειν (gráphein, “to write”)).

(rail transport) A similarly-formed conductive device, now usually Z-shaped, that collects electric current from overhead lines for trains and trams.

pantográf

rail transport: device that collects electric current from overhead lines


point of sail

(nautical) A sailing vessel's course in relation to the wind direction.


goose wing

(nautical) A position of sails in a fore-and-aft rigged sailboat, in which the mainsail is set to the leeward and the jib to the windward. This position may be used when running (almost) straight downwind. One of the clews or lower corners of a course or a topsail when the middle part or the rest of the sail is furled.


wet dock

1957, J. D. Salinger, "Zooey", in, 1961, Franny and Zooey, 1991 LB Books edition, page 90,
It was rather as though, after being in makeshift wet dock for days, the Queen Mary had just sailed out of, say, Walden Pond, as suddenly and perversely as she had sailed in.

(nautical) A dock that has a constant level of water in which a vessel floats despite the tide; usually achieved by separating the dock from the sea by a lock.


sailing vessel

(nautical) A boat or ship powered by wind in its sails; a sailboat or sailing ship.


racing car

[A] grey racing car drew up with a grinding of brakes and a sputter of gravel in front of the main entrance of Belpher Castle.

1919, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 6, in A Damsel in Distress:

Like some fine-tuned racing car, it kicks up a lot of its own dust.

1987 September 14, Jay Cocks, “Music: The Badder They Come”, in Time:

(UK, automotive, motor racing) A race car.


PED

en-noun

PED (countable and uncountable, plural PEDs)

platform edge door
platform edge door#English

(rail transport) Initialism of platform edge door.


first mate

(nautical) An officer on a merchant ship next in rank to the captain and responsible to the captain for the safety and security of the ship.

大副

nautical: officer next in rank to the captain


jacked up

en-adj

jacked up (comparative more jacked up, superlative most jacked up)

more jacked up (comparative)
most jacked up (superlative)

From jack (“raise with a jack”).
* “Wrecked, messed up” sense possibly an extension of the “under the influence of stimulants” sense

He took us for a ride in his awesome new jacked up truck.

(slang, automotive) Describes a 4x4 automobile that has a "lift kit", raising the body and/or frame higher than stock.


ocean-going

(nautical) Designed and equipped to be capable of sailing on an ocean.


bilge keel

(nautical) a strake, or small keel or blister, running along much of the length of the hull. It is used to reduce the hull's tendency to roll. They are typically fitted one on each side, low down on the side of the hull, so as not to increase the draft of the vessel. In battleships they were often quite large and used as part of the torpedo protection system.


in irons

(nautical) The "trapped" condition a sailing ship finds itself in when the bow of the ship is headed into the wind and the ship has stalled and is unable to maneuver.


cabin cruiser

A hundred yards away a cluster of boys on the deck of a sturdy cabin-cruiser swung their caps and sent a hail across.

1917, Ralph Henry Barbour, chapter 4, in The Adventure Club Afloat:

Today the ubiquitous cabin cruiser seems to many a Sunday skipper like nothing more than a watertight version of the car he left parked at the marina.

1963 July 5, “Perils of the Surface”, in Time:

The Franks were lost on July 5, shortly after leaving Grenada on their cabin cruiser Reel Lucky.

2007 November 5, Denyse Renne, “Lost at sea; no sign of brothers for 3 months”, in Trinidad and Tobago Express:

(nautical) A motorboat which has enclosed living quarters, especially a privately owned pleasure craft.


spiker

(railways) An engineer employed to drive in the nails that fasten the rails.

(railways) A mechanical device for driving in the nails.


jerk-water

The mail was brought by a tiny "jerk-water" bobtail dummy and coach run by one, Tony, from Pearl City, a mile away, to a station near the end of the peninsula.

1918, Charmian London, Jack London and Hawaii, page 19:

(rail transport, derogatory) A branch line train, using light equipment


jerk-water

jerk-water (comparative more jerk-water, superlative most jerk-water)

more jerk-water (comparative)
most jerk-water (superlative)

He had risen to the head of the greatest street car system in the world from the position of brakeman on a jerk-water railroad.

1915, Daniel Jacob Hauer, The Economics of Contracting: A Treatise for Contractors, Engineers […], volume II, page 212:

Can the keen-minded Mr. Willard at Baltimore be more anxious than the keen-minded Mr. Rea at Philadelphia to undertake the management of jerk-water branches in Connecticut or in Rhode Island or down on Cape Cod ?

1922, Edward Hungerford, Our Railroads To-morrow, page 297:

(US, colloquial, derogatory, rail transport) Railroads with low traffic.


branch line

But the states were generally concerned with the location of trunk lines and left it to cities and counties to worry about branch lines.

1987, William H. Rehnquist, The Supreme Court:

(rail transport) A secondary railroad route or one subsidiary to a railroad's mainlines.

They saddled themselves with the handling of light flows on a multiplicity of branch lines, and they sacrificed the speed, reliability and low cost of through train operation, even over the main arteries of the system.

1962 December, “Dr. Beeching previews the plan for British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 377:

Above all, Eurostar needs to be proactive in improving the service, reducing fares, and getting back to a post-COVID normal, despite Brexit. Or is it that SNCF just feels London is on a branch line from the rest of Europe, and not worth bothering about?

2023 February 8, Christian Wolmar, “Pressing issues to help Eurostar fulfil its ambitions”, in RAIL, number 976, page 39:

(rail transport) A non-through line which joins a mainline (or another branch or secondary line) and ends at a terminus.


jerk water

en-verb

jerk water (third-person singular simple present jerks water, present participle jerking water, simple past and past participle jerked water)

jerks water (present singular third-person)
jerking water (participle present)
jerked water (participle past)
jerked water (past)

The Santa Fe, called the Jerk Water route because they "jerked" water from ponds and wallows for the engine, still frayed out at the Kansas line.

1954, Mari Sandoz, The Buffalo Hunters: The Story of the Hide Men, page 171:

[…] by bailing from near streams with buckets, (the brake-man called this operation jerking water) and from this the road gets its name of jerkwater road.

1975 Mar, Indiana Historical Society, Indiana Magazine of History, volume 71, number 1, page 355:

(US, rail transport, apocryphal) To fill a steam locomotive water tank manually from natural water supplies (a hypothetical process whose use has been discredited).

In 1870 at Montrose, N.Y., the New York Central made the first installation of a track pan and scoop to permit locomotives to take water on the fly. Since these installations invariably were in tiny communities, and since they permitted locomotives literally to “jerk water”

1979, The Train Dispatcher - Volumes 61-62, page 49:

The early, crude "jerk water" device applied by the New York Central is shown in figure 8.24.

2001, Anthony J. Bianculli, Trains and Technology: Track and structures, page 19610:

Towns with track pans no longer had as many trains stop there, and they became derisively known as “jerkwater” towns, where the trains would jerk water and just keep on going.

2016, Kevin EuDaly, Mike Schafer, Steve Jessup, The Complete Book of North American Railroading, page 335:

(US, rail transport, dated) To scoop water from a track pan mounted on the tracks directly into a steam engine's tank without stopping.


berthing

(obsolete, nautical) The planking outside of a vessel, above the sheer strake.

(nautical) An instance of a ship being brought to be berthed, to rest at some docking facility.

ūnga

The occasion of a ship being brought to rest at a docking facility


mouchard

Borrowed from French mouchard, from mouche (“a fly”).

(nautical) An inverted compass hanging above the captain's bed


high seas

From the ground, Colombo’s port does not look like much. . . . For mariners leaving the port after lonely nights on the high seas, the delights of the B52 Night Club and Stallion Pub lie a stumble away.

2013 June 8, “The new masters and commanders”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8839, page 52:

(nautical) Regions of the ocean that are far from shore, especially those regions that do not belong to any country.


belowdecks

Lastly, Lundberg went belowdecks to inspect the boat's bulkheads and hull—for what, it was not clear, since he had absolutely no knowledge of steamboat design.

2003, Edward T. O'Donnell, Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum, page 54:

(nautical) Below the main deck of a ship.


four-wheeled

(automotive, engineering) Having four wheels.


deadman

From dead + man. In the sense referring to a safety switch, the notion of an operator who is dead is the figurative archetype representing any incapacitation, absence, or inattention. See also Dead Hand in that regard.

[...] a Brown-Boveri deadman's control; [...].

1962 April, “Beyond the Channel: Western Germany: The Henschel 4,000 h.p. V320 diesel”, in Modern Railways, page 274:

(rail transport, manufacturing, agriculture, safety equipment) A cutout device that operates in the event that an operator releases the control handles, leaves the operator's seat, or otherwise seems to be no longer present and alert.


sing out

sing out (third-person singular simple present sings out, present participle singing out, simple past sang out, past participle sung out)

sings out (present singular third-person)
singing out (participle present)
sang out (past)
sung out (participle past)

The pilot would sing out, “Ready about ship,” and the seamen would return answer, “Ay, ay, Sir,”—again he would sing out, “All ready,” and would be answered with “All ready, Sir.”

1836, Richard Weston, A Visit to the United States and Canada in 1833, page 9:

Vehemently pausing, he [Ahab] cried:—"What do ye do when ye see a whale, men?" "Sing out for him!" was the impulsive rejoinder from a score of clubbed voices.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “ch. 36”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC:

This was the first time I had taken a weather earing, and I felt not a little proud to sit astride of the weather yard-arm, pass the earing, and sing out, “Haul out to leeward!”

1854, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, page 143: