messenger

From Middle English messengere, messingere, messangere, from Old French messanger, a variant of Old French messagier (French messager), equivalent to message + -er. Doublet of messager.
Displaced native Old English boda (“messenger, envoy”) and ǣrendraca (“messenger, ambassador”).
For the replacement of -ager with -enger, -inger, -anger, compare passenger, harbinger, scavenger, porringer. This development may have been merely the addition of n, or it may have resulted due to contamination from other suffixes such as Middle English -ing and the rare Old French -ange, -enc, -inge, -inghe (“-ing”) for Old French -age (“-age”).

(nautical) A light line with which a heavier line may be hauled e.g. from the deck of a ship to the pier.


dock

From early modern English "area of mud in which a ship can rest at low tide, dock", borrowed from Dutch dok (“dock”) or Middle Low German docke (“dock, ship's dock”), both from Middle Dutch docke (“port, harbour, roadstead”), of uncertain origin. The original sense may have been "the furrow a grounded vessel makes in a mud bank". Compare modern Dutch dok, modern German Low German Dock, West Frisian dok, German Dock, Danish dok, Swedish docka.
Some sources link this word to an unattested Middle Dutch *docke (“watercourse, trench, canal”), which is a ghost word, only being inferred from Mediaeval Latin documents in the form of ducta, doctus, doccia (“conduit, canal”). However, if this theory is correct, then it would relate the word to Italian doccia (“drainpipe”), making dock a doublet of douche and duct.
An alternative theory ties Middle Dutch docke to a North Germanic/Scandinavian source, notably Old Norse dǫkk (“depression in the landscape, pit, pool, trench”), related to Norwegian dokk (“hollow, low ground”), Old Icelandic dökk, dökð (“pit, pool”), Swedish dank (“marshy ground”). If so, this would make dock a doublet of dank.

der

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

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

(nautical) A fixed structure attached to shore to which a vessel is secured when in port.

прыча́л

fixed structure to which a vessel is secured

pantalán

for small ships, protrudes somewhat into the sea

mooring

structure at shore to which vessel is secured


fang

From Middle English fang, possibly from Old English fang, feng (“grasp, catch”), from Proto-Germanic *fangą (“catch, catching, seizure”), from *fanhaną (“to catch, capture”), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂ḱ- (“to attach”); alternatively borrowed from Old Norse fang (“catch”) or formed anew from the verb fangen. Compare Scots fang (“catch”), Dutch vang (“a catch”), Low German fangst (“a catch”), German Fang (“a catch, capture, booty”), Swedish fång, fångst, Icelandic fang. Related also to Latin pangere (“to solidify, drive in”), Albanian mpij (“to benumb, stiffen”), Ancient Greek πήγνυμι (pḗgnumi, “to stiffen, firm up”), Sanskrit पाशयति (pāśáyati, “(s)he binds”).

cog

(nautical) The coil or bend of a rope; (by extension) a noose; a trap.


blockade

From block + -ade, probably after Dutch blocquade (now blokkade) or German Blockade.

blockage

nearly synonymous, but not interchangeably; blockade usually denotes human agency

(nautical) The ships or other forces used to effect a naval blockade.

saartojoukot

nautical: ships or other forces used to effect a naval blockade


crane

→ Burmese: ကရိန်း (ka.rin:)

→ Hindi: क्रेन (kren)

→ Irish: craein

→ Japanese: クレーン (kurēn)

→ Korean: 크레인 (keurein)

→ Malay: kren

→ Maori: kareni

→ Tagalog: kreyn

→ Thai: เครน (kreen)

From Middle English crane, from Old English cran (“crane”), from Proto-West Germanic *kran, from Proto-Germanic *kranô (“crane”), from Proto-Indo-European *gerh₂- (“to cry hoarsely”).
Cognate with Scots cran (“crane”), Dutch kraan (“crane”), German Kran (“crane”). The mechanical devices are named from their likeness to the bird.

der

(nautical) A forked post or projecting bracket to support spars, etc.; generally used in pairs.


foil

en-noun

foil (countable and uncountable, plural foils)

From Middle English foyle, from Middle French fueille, from Old French fueille (“plant leaf”), from Late Latin folia, the plural of folium, mistaken as a singular feminine.
The literary sense is from the practice of backing a gem with metal foil to make it shine more brilliantly.
Doublet of folio and folium, distantly also with phyllo and phyllon.

(hydrodynamics, nautical) Clipping of hydrofoil.


foil

en-verb

foil (third-person singular simple present foils, present participle foiling, simple past and past participle foiled)

foils (present singular third-person)
foiling (participle present)
foiled (participle past)
foiled (past)


harbor

en-noun

harbor (countable and uncountable, plural harbors)

→ Cebuano: harbor

→ Marshallese: aba

→ Welsh: harbwr

From Middle English herberwe, herber, from Old English herebeorg (“shelter, lodgings, quarters”), from Proto-West Germanic *harjabergu (“army shelter, refuge”), from *harjaz (“army”) + *bergō (“protection”), equivalent to Old English here (“army, host”) + beorg (“defense, protection, refuge”). Doublet of harbinger. See also here, harry, borrow and bury.

inh

[T]here aboutes dwelt greate multitudes of people half wilde, hiding thẽſelues in caues of the grounde, of ſmall ſtature, and very fearefull, for as ſoone as they ſawe them they fled into their holes, and that there was a great riuer and very good harborough.

1582, Nicolas [i.e., Nicolo] Zeno; Antonio Zeno, “The Discouerie of the Isles of Frisland, Iseland, Engroueland, Estotiland, Drogeo and Icaria, Made by M. Nicolas Zeno, Knight, and M. Antonio His Brother”, in R[ichard] H[akluyt], compiler, Divers Voyages Touching the Discouerie of America, and the Ilands adiacent vnto the Same, […], London: […] [Thomas Dawson] for Thomas Woodcocke, […], →OCLC, signatures D4, recto – D4, verso:

A harbor, even if it is a little harbor, is a good thing, since adventurers come into it as well as go out, and the life in it grows strong, because it takes something from the world, and has something to give in return.

1881 October, Sarah Orne Jewett, “River Driftwood”, in The Atlantic Monthly, volume 48, number 288, page 510:

(countable, nautical) A sheltered expanse of water, adjacent to land, in which ships may anchor or dock, especially for loading and unloading.


dolphin

From Middle English delphyn, from Latin delphīnus, from Ancient Greek δελφίς (delphís), from δελφύς (delphús, “womb”); the modern form in -ol- is probably influenced by the pronunciation of Middle French dauphin. Compare Swedish delfin. Doublet of dauphin. Displaced native Old English mereswīn (literally “sea pig”).

ncog

(nautical) A kind of wreath or strap of plaited cordage.

(nautical) A spar or buoy held by an anchor and furnished with a ring to which ships may fasten their cables.

kiinnityspoiju

nautical: anchored spar or buoy for mooring

(nautical) A mooring post on a wharf or beach.

At each end of the piers in the water, in cases where several rows of pile are driven, a sort of cutwater should be formed, in order to ward off heavy bodies, such as floating trees, ice, etc. and prevent them from injuring the superstructure (called in German constructions, "Eisbrecher," or ice-breaker). This is usually done by driving one pile by itself in advance of the rest, or by forming what is called a "dolphin" at each end of the pier.

1844, The Technical Educator, an encyclopædia, page 107:

An ice-breaker or dolphin was also constructed during the latter part of the autumn, a little above the site for No. 2 dam, or that for the twoer nearest the Pesth shore; this dolphin, which served as a protection against the ice, rafts, &c. was constructed at this time, so that a means might be afforded of judging of the actual force of the ice during the winter ensuing; and the event proved that its construction was most fortunate, as the winter of 1840-41 was unusually severe.

1852, William Tierney Clark, An Account, with illustrations, of the Suspension Bridge across the River Danube, uniting Pesth with Buda and the adjacent country, in the Kingdom of Hungary, etc, page 37:

The Dolphin is now seldom used, but a rope treated in the same manner, with mousings raised on it at regular intervals, is sometimes put around a Launch, just below the gunwale outside and secured there as a sort of permanent fender; this also is called a Dolphin.

1868, Stephen Bleecker Luce, Seamanship, page 28:

For a dolphin or buoy to be placed on the south point of Goat Island, in the harbor of Newport, one hundred and fifty dollars.

1852, The Congressional Globe: Volume 32, page xxx:

Sometimes a stoppage would take place owing to the accumulation of ice between the Dolphin and the dam, which kept that above back until a mass of ice more resembling an island than anything else it can be compared to, would force the whole mass before it, breaking up the large blocks accumulated at the dam into a thousand pieces.

1860 March 31, “Victoria Bridge”, in American Railroad Journal, volume 16, number 13:

(nautical) A permanent fender designed to protect a heavy boat, bridge, or coastal structure from the impact of large floating objects such as ice, floating logs, or vessels.


dolphin

Ultimately from 3rd Duke of Alba (duc-d’Albe in French), who was the first to build this type of structure in the Spanish Netherlands in the 16th century. Possibly from Dutch dukdalf, or the plural dukdalven, through elision of the initial duk-.

(nautical) A man-made semi submerged maritime structure, usually installed to provide a fixed structure for temporary mooring, to prevent ships from drifting to shallow water or to serve as base for navigational aids.


acockbill

From acock (“In a cocked or turned-up fashion”, adverb) + bill (“the point of or beyond the fluke”, noun).

compound

(nautical) Hanging at the cathead, ready to let go, as an anchor.

(nautical) Topped up; having one yardarm higher than the other.


fother

en-verb

fother (third-person singular simple present fothers, present participle fothering, simple past and past participle fothered)

fothers (present singular third-person)
fothering (participle present)
fothered (participle past)
fothered (past)

From Middle English fother, fothir, from Old Norse fóðr (cognate to Old English fōdor), from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (compare Dutch voer (“pasture, fodder”), German Futter (“feed”), Swedish foder). Doublet of fodder and foeder. More at food.

(dated, nautical) To stop a leak with oakum or old rope (often by drawing a sail under the hull).


doll

en-noun

doll (plural dolls or (Internet slang) dollz)

desc

→ Kashubian: dolka (Canada, United States, New Zealand)

From Doll, a popular pet form of Dorothy.

The signals are on a three-doll bracket post; one doll carries two [signal] arms, one above the other.

1943 March and April, “Notes and News: Peculiar Distant Signals on L.N.E.R”, in Railway Magazine, page 116:

(rail transport) A short signal post mounted on a bracket mounted on the main signal post, or on a signal gantry.


strake

From Middle English strake, from Old English *straca (> Anglo-Latin straca), from Proto-West Germanic *strakō, from Proto-Germanic *strakaz (“straight”). Akin to Old English streċċan (“to make straight, stretch”).

cog

With regard to materials, all the frames should be of oak and so should the stem piece, stern post, upper portion of dead woods, knight heads, apron, beams, shelf clamp, bilge strakes, and keelson; the keel will generally be found to be either English or American elm. The garboard strakes are generally of American elm, and it is best that the planking above should be of American elm or oak to within a foot or so of the load water-line, and teak above to the covering board or deck edge.

1884, Dixon Kemp, A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing (Fourth Edition), pages 13–14:

You felt the power of the Olympic's twenty-nine boilers transmitted upward through the strakes of the hull.

2003, Erik Larson, “Prologue: Aboard the Olympic”, in The Devil in the White City, Vintage Books, page 6:

(nautical) A continuous line of plates or planks running from bow to stern that contributes to a vessel's skin. (FM 55-501).

huidgang

continuous line of planks or plates in a vessel's hull


four-wheel drive
four-wheel drive#English

(automotive) Initialism of four-wheel drive.


busk

en-verb

busk (third-person singular simple present busks, present participle busking, simple past and past participle busked)

busks (present singular third-person)
busking (participle present)
busked (participle past)
busked (past)

Apparently from French busquer or Spanish buscar.


normal

en-adj

normal (comparative normaler or more normal, superlative normalest or most normal)

normaler (comparative)
more normal (comparative)
normalest (superlative)
most normal (superlative)

From Latin normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square; later: according to a rule”), from nōrma (“carpenter's square”), of uncertain origin; doublet of normale. The earliest use of the word in English was to mean "perpendicular; forming a right angle" like something normālis (“made according to a carpenter's square”), but by Late Latin normālis had also come to mean "according to a rule", from which modern English senses of the word derive: in the 1800s, as people began to quantitatively study things like height and weight and blood pressure, the usual or most common values came to be referred to as "normal", and by extension values regarded as healthy or desirable came to be called "normal" regardless of their usuality.

der

(rail transport, of points) In the default position, set for the most frequently used route.


collier

From Middle English colier, from col (“coal”).

By 1830, more than two million tons of coal a year, principally from the North East, arrived in London by coastal collier, and that figure reached three million tons by the 1840s.

2021 December 1, Nigel Harris, “St Pancras and King's Cross: 1947”, in RAIL, number 945, page 42:

(nautical) A vessel carrying a bulk cargo of coal.


forward

back

antonym(s) of “in the usual direction of progress”

From Middle English foreward, from Old English foreweard (“forward, inclined to the front, fore, early, former”), from Proto-Germanic *fura- (“fore-”), *warþaz (“turned”), equivalent to fore + -ward. Cognate with Dutch voorwaarts (“forward”), German vorwärts (“forward”).

vorentoe

at, near or towards the front of something

(with a possessive pronoun agreeing with the subject) ar aghaidh

Most of the men are sleeping forward, for it is near midnight, but a stout swarthy Arab, Mahomed by name, stands at the tiller, lazily steering by the stars.

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

At, near or towards the front of something.

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


spur

From Middle English spure, spore, from Old English spora, spura, from Proto-West Germanic *spurō, from Proto-Germanic *spurô, from Proto-Indo-European *sperH- (“to kick”).

(rail transport) A very short branch line of a railway line.

sivuraide

(transport) A short branch road of a motorway, freeway or major road.


ease

en-verb

ease (third-person singular simple present eases, present participle easing, simple past and past participle eased)

eases (present singular third-person)
easing (participle present)
eased (participle past)
eased (past)

From Middle English ese, eise, aise, from Anglo-Norman ese (“ease”), from Old French eise, aise (“elbow room; opportunity”), of uncertain and obscure origin. Apparently related to Provençal ais, Italian agio and asio, Sicilian aciu and Portuguese azo. Sometimes ascribed to Vulgar Latin *āsia or *āsium, possibly from Latin ānsa (“handle, haft”) or Frankish *ansiju (“handle, loophole, eyelet; cup-handle; arms akimbo, elbow room”), but more often derived from Vulgar Latin *adjace(m), from Latin adjacēns (“adjacent, neighbouring”), present participle of adjaceō (“lie next to, border on”), though the forms and senses are difficult to trace clearly.
Alternatively, possibly from a non-Latin source such as Germanic or Celtic on the basis of the conflicting forms which appear in various Romance languages. May be inherited from an unattested Old English *ǣse, which along with Frankish *ansiju would be inherited from Proto-Germanic *ansijō. Compare Old English īeþe (“easy”), Gothic 𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐌹 (azēti, “ease; pleasure”), *𐌰𐌶𐌴𐍄𐍃 (*azēts, “easy”), Breton eaz, ez (“easy”), Irish adhais (“easy; leisure”). See also eath.
The verb is from Middle English esen, ultimately of the same origin.

der

We eased the boom vang, then lowered the sail.

(nautical, transitive) To loosen or slacken the tension on a line.

отпускам

to loosen or slacken the tension on (something)


kite

The noun is from Middle English kyte, kīte, kete (“a kite endemic to Europe, especially the red kite (Milvus milvus)”), from Old English cȳta (“kite; bittern”), from Proto-West Germanic *kūtijō, diminutive of Proto-Germanic *kūts (“bird of prey”), from Proto-Indo-European *gewH-d- (“to cry, screech”). The English word is cognate with Scots kyt, kyte (“kite; bird of prey”), Middle High German kiuzelīn, kützlīn (“owling”) (modern German Kauz (“owl”)). Possibly a doublet of coot.
Sense 3 (“lightweight toy”) is from the fact that it hovers in the air like the bird.
The verb is derived from the noun.

leko

military aviation, slang: aircraft — see also aircraft

leija

sailing, slang: spinnaker — see also spinnaker

Our good master keeps his kites up to the last moment, studding-sails alow and aloft, and, by incessant straight steering, never loses a rod of way.

Richard Mayne (2000) “kite”, in The Language of Sailing, Chicago, Ill., Manchester: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, →ISBN, page 162

(sailing, dated) In a square-rigged ship: originally a sail positioned above a topsail; later a lightweight sail set above the topgallants, such as a studding sail or a jib topsail.

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

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

(sailing, slang) A spinnaker (“supplementary sail to a mainsail”).


kite

en-verb

kite (third-person singular simple present kites, present participle kiting, simple past and past participle kited)

kites (present singular third-person)
kiting (participle present)
kited (participle past)
kited (past)

извисявам

to cause (something) to move upwards rapidly

This column action causes the tow line to kite either to the port or the starboard side, […]

1973 December 17, Clarence K. Chatten, Saul A. Eller, Reece Folb, Arthur P. Brisbane, Weather Resistant Segmented Fairing for a Tow Cable, US Patent 3,899,991 (PDF version), column 1:

(intransitive, engineering, nautical) To deflect sideways in the water.


rack

From Middle English rakke, rekke, from Middle Dutch rac, recke, rec (Dutch rek), see rekken.

(nautical) A piece or frame of wood, having several sheaves, through which the running rigging passes.

Chief Stevens approached my rack and repeatedly ordered me to vacate my rack and report to the working party.

2008, Byron L. Smith, Prescription Music, →ISBN, page 33:

By the time I had unpacked my sea bag, made my rack, and finished a good long hot shower, it was late in the evening.

2010, Herb Brewer, Chronicles of a Marine Rifleman: Vietnam, 1965-1966, →ISBN, page 171:

I took off my helmet, sat it gently down at the head of my rack on the wooden deck, plopped my butt down on my rack again, and began taking off my stateside assbusting boots.

2016, Cpl. Osborn R. E, Like Killing Rats, →ISBN:

Do I have to do this now? Like, I really need to get some rack.

2009 December 18, 1:00:07 from the start, in Avatar, spoken by Jake Sully (Sam Worthington), 20th Century Fox:

(nautical, by extension, slang, uncountable) Sleep.

Just beyond that station the first step is encountered and the rack resorted to, taking the line on a gradient of 1 in 9 over a steeply inclined bridge and through a spiral tunnel.

1950 November, H. P. White, “The Furka-Oberalp Railway”, in Railway Magazine, page 767:

The ladder-type Riggenbach rack is the one in use on both systems.

1960 December, 'Voyageur', “The Mountain Railways of the Bernese Oberland”, in Trains Illustrated, page 750:

mechanical engineering
mechanical engineering

(mechanical engineering, rail transport) A bar with teeth on its face or edge, to work with those of a gearwheel, pinion, or worm, which is to drive or be driven by it.


rack

rack (third-person singular simple present racks, present participle racking, simple past and past participle racked)

racks (present singular third-person)
racking (participle present)
racked (participle past)
racked (past)
rack (infinitive)

From Old English reċċan (“to stretch out, extend”).

inh

(nautical) To bind together, as two ropes, with cross turns of yarn, marline, etc.


buckler

From Middle English bukler, bokler, bokeler, bokeleer, from Old French bocler, boucler, bucler, (French bouclier) from Vulgar Latin *bucculārius (“bossed”), from Latin buccula (“boss”). Merged with buckle + -er.

(nautical) A block of wood or plate of iron made to fit a hawse hole, or the circular opening in a half-port, to prevent water from entering when the vessel pitches.


grave

en-verb

grave (third-person singular simple present graves, present participle graving, simple past and past participle graved)

graves (present singular third-person)
graving (participle present)
graved (participle past)
graved (past)

(transitive, obsolete, nautical) To clean, as a vessel's bottom, of barnacles, grass, etc., and pay it over with pitch — so called because graves or greaves was formerly used for this purpose.


LT

en-noun

LT (countable and uncountable, plural LTs)

(automotive) A designation for a trim level within a model of trucks; it denotes low-end (base model) features.


stretch

en-verb

stretch (third-person singular simple present stretches, present participle stretching, simple past and past participle stretched or (obsolete) straught or (obsolete) straight)

stretches (present singular third-person)
stretching (participle present)
stretched (participle past)
stretched (past)
straught (obsolete participle past)
straught (obsolete past)
straight (obsolete participle past)
straight (obsolete past)

From Middle English strecchen, from Old English streċċan (“to stretch, hold out, extend, spread out, prostrate”), from Proto-West Germanic *strakkjan (“to stretch, make taut or tight”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)treg-, *streg-, *treg- (“stiff, rigid”). Cognate with West Frisian strekke, Dutch strekken (“to stretch, straighten”), German strecken (“to stretch, straighten, elongate”), Danish strække (“to stretch”), Swedish sträcka (“to stretch”), Dutch strak (“taut, tight”), Albanian shtriqem (“to stretch”). More at stark.

cog

The ship stretched to the eastward.

(nautical) To sail by the wind under press of canvas.


roll

en-verb

roll (third-person singular simple present rolls, present participle rolling, simple past and past participle rolled)

rolls (present singular third-person)
rolling (participle present)
rolled (participle past)
rolled (past)

From Middle English rollen, partly from Old French roller, roler, röeler, röoler, from Medieval Latin rotulāre (“to roll; to revolve”), from Latin rotula (“a little wheel”), diminutive of rota (“a wheel”); partly from Anglo-Latin rollāre, from the same ultimate source.

rol

to cause something to revolve by turning over and over

rol

to move, or cause to be moved, upon rollers or small wheels

(intransitive, aviation, nautical, of an aircraft or vessel) To rotate about the fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down. Compare pitch.

Containers will be rolled to another mother vessel.

(intransitive, shipping) To load ocean freight cargo onto a vessel other than the one it was meant to sail on.


roll

(nautical, aviation) The oscillating movement of a nautical vessel as it rotates from side to side, about its fore-and-aft axis, causing its sides to go up and down, as distinguished from the alternate rise and fall of bow and stern called pitching; or the equivalent in an aircraft.

клатене

oscillating movement of a vessel from side to side

(nautical) The measure or extent to which a vessel rotates from side to side, about its fore-and-aft axis.


lateen

The shape of the lateen sail is triangular, or precisely that of a large fore-sail; it requires a long tapering yard to spread it, which will slightly bow or bend towards the middle when a stiff breeze fills the sail; a boom is used for some lateen sails, but not for all.

1853, Henry Coleman Folkard, The Sailing Boat: A Description of English and Foreign Boats, page 75:

Not only is its supporting and controlling rigging best suited to that sail position but, even more important, the sail itself thus presents a rigid leading-edge: the mast, in the case of most modern sailboats, or the yardarm to which the sail is attached, in the case of the medieval Mediterranean lateen or the modern Sailfish.
Fore-and-aft rigs come in a variety of shapes, but the medieval Mediterranean lateen was triangular, and this too was an asset.

1976, Barbara M. Kreutz, “Ships, Shipping and the Implications of Change in the Medieval Mediterranean”, in Henrik M. Birnbaum, Patrick K. Ford, Hnry Ansgar Kelly, Richard H. Rouse, Speros Vryonis, Jr., Lynn White, Jr., editors, VIATOR: Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Volume 7, University of California Press, page 82:

The lateen sail is triangular or a quadrilateral which is almost triangular, the former being the type used by the Byzantines.

1990, Richard W. Unger, The Ship in the Medieval Economy 600-1600, page 47:

1995, George F. Hourani, John Carswell, Arab Seafaring in the Indian Ocean in Ancient and Early Medieval Times, Princeton University Press, Expanded Edition, page 103,
The mere fact that this type of lateen no longer exists in the Mediterranean proves nothing; it is always possible that it might have originated there and later given way there to the still superior triangular form. But there are more substantial reasons for believing that the lateen came from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean. The earliest evidence of the existence of lateens in the Mediterranean is in Greek Byzantine manuscripts of the late ninth century, which show drawings of lateens (Plates 5 and 6).

(nautical) A triangular fore-and-aft sail set on a boom in such way that the tack is attached to the hull of the vessel and the free end of the boom lifts the sail.


fiddler

From Middle English fithelere, from Old English fiþelere, from *fiþele. By surface analysis, fiddle + -er.
(capstan-house): So called because the fiddle would sometimes be played to cheer the sailors working there.

Whereupon you shake hands with him […] and make room for him by your side in the "Fiddler," when the pleasant time of night is come, and the stewardess is tucking up the ladies, and putting oranges and other goodies under their pillows, and the menfolk assemble in the capstan house to smoke their last cigar.

1877, Official Guide and Album of the Cunard Steamship Company, page 95:

(nautical, slang) The capstan-house on a steamer.


pennon

Inherited from Middle English penoun, pennon, from Anglo-Norman penun, penoun, from Old French penne (“feather”) + -on (diminutive suffix).

af

1631, Michael Drayton, The Battaile of Agincourt, London: William Lee, p. 21,
… a ship most neatly that was lim’d,
In all her sailes with Flags and Pennons trim’d.

1780, Hannah Cowley, The Maid of Arragon, London: L. Davis et al.,
Fair Commerce wav’d her pennons in our ports;

[…] as his eye swept the horizon, clear against the rosy sky shone the white sails of a ship, so near that they could see the pennon at her mast-head and black figures moving on the deck.

1886, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, chapter 11, in Jo's Boys […] , Boston: Roberts Brothers, page 208:

(nautical) A long pointed streamer or flag on a vessel.


ratline

Apparently an alteration of raddling, after rat, line.

(nautical, uncountable) The rope or similar material used to make cross-ropes on a ship.

[H]e laid hold of the first ratline with his right hand, then sprung to the second, with his left, and so on alternately, right and left, up to the last, close to the futtock shrouds.

1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 80

That meant it was not possible to use ratlines — that is, to make rope ladders out of the shrouds by adding small connecting pieces of ropes.

1980, Richard W. Unger, The Ship in the Medieval Economy 600-1600, page 34:

(nautical) Any of the cross ropes between the shrouds, which form a net-like ropework, allowing sailors to climb up towards the top of the mast.


owner

→ Japanese: オーナー (ōnā)

(nautical, slang) The captain of a ship.


target

→ Japanese: ターゲット (tāgetto)

From Middle French targette, targuete, diminutive of targe (“light shield”), from Old French, from Frankish *targa (“buckler”), akin to Old Norse targa (“small round shield”) (whence also Old English targe, targa (“shield”)) from Proto-Germanic *targǭ (“edge”), from Proto-Indo-European *derǵʰ- (“fenced lot”). Akin to Old High German zarga (“side wall, rim”) (German Zarge (“frame”)), Spanish tarjeta (“card”).

cog

(rail transport) A conspicuous disk attached to a switch lever to show its position, or for use as a signal.


transfer

en-verb

transfer (third-person singular simple present transfers, present participle transferring, simple past and past participle transferred)

transfers (present singular third-person)
transferring (participle present)
transferred (participle past)
transferred (past)

/tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/

transfer to the Blue Line

(transport, of a traveler) To exit one mass transit vehicle and board another (typically one belonging to a different line or mode of transportation) to continue a journey.


transfer

en-noun

transfer (countable and uncountable, plural transfers)

/tɹɑːnsˈfɜː/

Free transfers can be made between the Red and Orange Lines by walking from one of the station's platforms to another; in addition, riders using a fare card also get free transfers between bus and subway at the station.

(countable, transport) An act of exiting one mass transit vehicle and boarding another (typically one belonging to a different line or mode of transportation) to continue a journey.

(countable, transport) A paper receipt given to a rider of one bus (and historically also certain elevated or subway lines), allowing free entry onto another bus to continue a journey.


hacker

Possibly from hack(ney cab) (“carriage pulled by a hackney horse, or motorized vehicle, available for public hire”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

suffix

Start runnin' for a streetcar and they open up with machine guns and bump two pedestrians, a hacker asleep in his cab, and an old scrubwoman on the second floor workin' a mop. And they miss the guy they're after.

1938 January, Raymond Chandler, “Red Wind. Chapter 3.”, in Trouble is My Business, New York, N.Y.: Pocket Books, published May 1965, →OCLC, page 173:

Washington Hacker Charles A. Culp and his pet macaw parrot, Capt. Bligh, ran afoul of the law when a policeman charged Culp with failure to give full time and attention to driving, because he was tickling Capt. Bligh who has a perch in the cab.

1965 January 24, “Bird costs cabbie $10”, in The Hartford Courant, daily edition, number CXXVIII, Hartford, Conn.: The Hartford Courant Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 4A, columns 4–5:

"That's Brooklyn," the hacker said, his tone accusing. "I don't go to Brooklyn, mister. Anyways, I'm due at the garage." Nathan Shapiro is usually gentle with cab drivers. He was not, this hot afternoon of a fruitless day—and a day which was supposed to have been an off-duty day—Shapiro felt no gentleness.

1972, Richard Lockridge, chapter 11, in Write Murder Down, Philadelphia, Pa., New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →ISBN, page 129:

(US, road transport) One who operates a taxicab; a cabdriver.


pocket

From Middle English pocket (“bag, sack”), from Anglo-Norman poket, Old Northern French poquet, poquete, diminutive of poque, poke (“bag, sack”) (compare modern Norman pouquette and modern French pochette from Old French pochete, from puche), from Frankish *pokā (“pouch”), from Proto-Germanic *pukkô, *pukô (“bag; pouch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). Doublet of pochette. Cognate with Middle Dutch poke, Alemannic German Pfoch (“purse, bag”), Old English pocca, pohha (“poke, pouch, pocket, bag”), Old Norse poki (“bag, pocket”). Compare the related poke (“sack or bag”). See also Modern French pochette and Latin bucca.

der

is that a gun in your pocket or are you just pleased to see me

(nautical) A strip of canvas sewn upon a sail so that a batten or a light spar can placed in the interspace.


kettle

→ Brunei Malay: kitil

→ Persian: کتری (ketri)

→ Bengali: কেটলি (keṭli)

→ Hindi: केतली (ketlī)

→ Gujarati: કીટલી (kīṭlī)

→ Irish: citeal

→ Maltese: kitla

→ Zulu: igedlela

From Middle English ketel, also chetel, from Old English ċietel (“kettle, cauldron”) and in Middle English possibly influenced by Old Norse ketill and both from Proto-Germanic *katilaz (“kettle, bucket, vessel”), of uncertain origin and formation. Usually regarded as a borrowing of Late Latin catīllus (“small bowl”), diminutive of Latin catinus (“deep bowl, vessel for cooking up or serving food”), however, the word may be Germanic confused with the Latin: compare Old English cete (“cooking pot”), Old High German chezzi (“a kettle, dish, bowl”), Icelandic kati, ketla (“a small boat”). Cognate with West Frisian tsjettel (“kettle”), Dutch ketel (“kettle”), German Kessel (“kettle”), Swedish kittel (“cauldron”), Swedish kittel (“kettle”), Gothic 𐌺𐌰𐍄𐌹𐌻𐍃 (katils, “kettle”), Finnish kattila, Polish kocioł (“cauldron”), Czech kotel (“boiler”), Russian котёл (kotjól, “boiler, cauldron”).

cog

(rail transport, slang) A steam locomotive


plough

en-verb

plough (third-person singular simple present ploughs, present participle ploughing, simple past and past participle ploughed)

ploughs (present singular third-person)
ploughing (participle present)
ploughed (participle past)
ploughed (past)

From Middle English plouh, plow, plugh(e), plough(e), plouw, from Old English plōh (“hide of land, ploughland”) and Old Norse plógr (“plough (the implement)”), both from Proto-Germanic *plōgaz, *plōguz (“plough”). Cognate with Scots pleuch, plou, North Frisian plog, West Frisian ploech, Low German Ploog, Dutch ploeg, Russian плуг (plug), German Pflug, Danish plov, Swedish and Norwegian plog, Icelandic plógur. Replaced Old English sulh (“plough, furrow”); see sullow.

der

With speed we plough the watery way.

1725, Homer, “Book II”, in [William Broome], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume I, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

(nautical) To run through, as in sailing.


strand

en-verb

strand (third-person singular simple present strands, present participle stranding, simple past and past participle stranded)

strands (present singular third-person)
stranding (participle present)
stranded (participle past)
stranded (past)

* From Middle English strand, strond, from Old English strand (“strand, sea-shore, shore”), from Proto-West Germanic *strand, from Proto-Germanic *strandō (“edge, rim, shore”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)trAnt- (“strand, border, field”), from Proto-Indo-European *ster- (“to broaden, spread out”). Cognate with West Frisian strân, Dutch strand, German Strand, Danish strand, Swedish strand, Norwegian Bokmål strand, Icelandic strönd.
* (street): Perhaps from the similarity of shape.

der

(transitive, nautical) To run aground; to beach.


guy

From Old French guie, linked to verb guier (“guide”), from Frankish *wītan, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *wītaną (“know”). Cognate with English guide.

(chiefly nautical) A support rope or cable used to aid in hoisting or lowering.

ванта

nautical: support rope or cable to aid in hoisting or lowering

(chiefly nautical) A support to secure or steady structures prone to shift their position or be carried away (e.g. the mast of a ship or a suspension bridge).


fiddle

→ Swahili: fidla

From Middle English fithele, from Old English *fiþele, from Proto-West Germanic *fiþulā, from Proto-Germanic *fiþulǭ (“fiddle”), of uncertain etymology. Some contest that the Germanic terms are borrowed variations of Late Latin vitula (see viola); others contest that the word has a separate origin within Germanic languages, and still others believe that the Late Latin term for the stringed instrument is a borrowing from Germanic as a change of Latin t to Germanic þ is highly improbable, yet Germanic þ to Latin t is well documented (see troop, Teobaldo, etc.). Cognate with Old High German fidula (German Fiedel), Middle Dutch vedele (Dutch vedel, veel), Old Norse fiðla (Icelandic fiðla, Danish fiddel, Norwegian fela, Swedish fela). The change from /ðl/ to /dl/ in modern English is regular; compare staddle, swaddle (in brothel, it was prevented; see that entry for discussion).

hang up one's fiddle when one comes home

there's many a good tune played on an old fiddle

The meal is served on special trays which slot into the arms of airline-type seats of the passenger coaches. The trays have fiddles for each of the plates, cups and glasses, and the crockery is so well-designed that it is seldom any of the contents get spilled.

1962 September, P. Ransome-Wallis, “The Talgo trains of Spain”, in Modern Railways, page 188:

(especially nautical) Any rail or device that prevents items from sliding off a table, stove, etc. in rough water.

balancera

nautical: device or rail for keeping items on a surface while at sea


booty

en-noun

booty (countable and uncountable, plural booties)

From Middle English buty, botye, bottyne, from Old French butin, botin, from Middle Low German bǖte (“distribution, exchange, loot”), of obscure origin, but related to Middle High German biute, German Beute (“booty”). Possibly ultimately from Proto-Celtic *boudi (“profit, gains; victory”).

unk

obscure

der

(nautical) A form of prize which, when a ship was captured at sea, could be distributed at once.


stemming

en-noun

stemming (countable and uncountable, plural stemmings)

(nautical) Movement against a current, especially a tidal current.


trick

From Middle English trikke, from Old Northern French trique (related to Old French trichier (“to defraud, act dishonestly, conceal, deceive, cheat”); > modern French tricher), itself possibly from Middle High German trechen (“to launch a shot at, play a trick on”), or one of its derivatives (e.g. Middle High German ūftrechen (“to do something to someone, hurt someone”), vertrechen (“to conceal, get over on someone”), zuotrechen (“to obtain falsely or deceitfully, wangle, finagle”), etc.); yet the Old French verb is equally likely to be derived from Vulgar Latin *triccāre, from Late Latin tricāre, from Latin trīcor, trīcārī (“dodge, search for detours; haggle, quibble”).
The term has been connected to Middle Dutch treck, trec (“draw, line, desire, game move, cord, stratagem, ruse, trick”), from Middle Dutch trekken, trēken (“to pull, place, put, move”), from Old Dutch *trekken, *trekan (“to move, drag”), from Proto-Germanic *trakjaną, *trekaną (“to drag, scrape, pull”), from Proto-Indo-European *dreg- (“to drag, scrape”). If they are related, trick would be cognate with Low German trekken, Middle High German trecken, trechen, Danish trække, and Old Frisian trekka, Romanian truc and other Romance languages.
Compare track, treachery, trig, and trigger.

der

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,
To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;
And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,
And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

(nautical) A sailor's spell of work at the helm, usually two hours long.


hermaphrodite

From Hermaphroditus, the mythical son of Hermes and Aphrodite, who merged bodies with a naiad, thereafter having both male and female qualities.

deledash

organism having both male and female gonads


garnet

Using a garnet for the lower-deck guns on the lower deck: Lash the centre of the yard to the mast, and hook both burtons to support the yard.

1893, Charles Bushell, The Rigger's Guide and Seaman's Assistant:

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

(nautical) A tackle for hoisting cargo in or out of a vessel.


helper

From Middle English helpere, from Old English *helpere, from Proto-West Germanic *helpārī (“helper”), equivalent to help + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hälper (“helper”), West Frisian helper (“helper”), Dutch helper (“helper”), German Low German Helper (“helper”), German Helfer (“helper”), Danish hjælper (“helper”), Swedish hjälpare (“helper”), Icelandic hjálpar (“helper”).

A device for the automatic control of crewless helper locomotives cut into the make-up of heavy freight trains has been perfected by the Louisville & Nashville RR in conjunction with the General Railway Signalling Co.

1964 November, “Automatic helper locomotive control on the Louisville & Nashville RR, USA”, in Modern Railways, page 354:

(rail transport, US) A locomotive that assists a train, usually on steep gradients.


throat

peak

antonym(s) of “end of a gaff next to the mast”

From Middle English throte, from Old English þrote, þrota, þrotu (“throat”), from Proto-Germanic *þrutō (“throat”), from Proto-Indo-European *trud- (“to swell, become stiff”). Cognate with Dutch strot (“throat”), German Drossel (“throttle, gorge of game (wild animals)”) (etymology 2), Icelandic þroti (“swelling”), Swedish trut.

cog

one's belly thinks one's throat has been cut

one's stomach thinks one's throat has been cut

(nautical) The upper fore corner of a boom-and-gaff sail, or of a staysail.

(nautical) That end of a gaff which is next to the mast.

The shoe iron must then become a mere loose piece of iron, and be found, on the heaving up of the anchor, to have lain on the surface of the soil between it and immediately under the throat of the anchor

1868, “Glover's Safety Anchors”, in Hunt's Yachting Magazine:

(nautical) The angle where the arm of an anchor is joined to the shank.


butt

From Middle English but, butte (“goal, mark, butt of land”), from Old English byt, bytt (“small piece of land”) and *butt (attested in diminutive Old English buttuc (“end, small piece of land”) > English buttock), from Proto-West Germanic *butt, from Proto-Germanic *buttaz (“end, piece”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰnós (“bottom”), later thematic variant of Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn ~ *bʰudʰn-, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”). Cognate with Norwegian butt (“stump, block”), Icelandic bútur (“piece, fragment”), Low German butt (“blunt, clumsy”). Influenced by Old French but, butte (“but, mark”), ultimately from the same Germanic source. Compare also Albanian bythë (“buttocks”), Ancient Greek πυθμήν (puthmḗn, “bottom of vessel”), Latin fundus (“bottom”) and Sanskrit बुध्न (budhná, “bottom”), from the same Proto-Indo-European root. Related to bottom, boot.
 PIE word
 *bʰudʰmḗn.

приклад

larger or thicker end of anything; blunt end

perä

end of something, often distinguished from other end

[…] when the sun gets round to the butt of the wind, the change, if any is coming, is then to be expected.

1865, Arthur Kavanagh, The Cruise of the R.Y.S. Eva, page 62:

[…] 'the butt' of the wind, the wind will increase or continue. When the sky is light and clear in 'the butt' of the wind, the wind will die away. A strong wind which changes round with the sun E to S to W (clockwise) will die away, and[…]

2013 April 16, G. W. Maunsell, The Fisherman's Vade Mecum - A Compendium of Precepts, Counsel, Knowledge and Experience in Most Matters Pertaining to Fishing for Trout, Sea Trout, S, Read Books Ltd, →ISBN:

(countable, generally) An end of something, often distinguished in some way from the other end.

(dialect or nautical, possibly dated) The direction from which the wind blows.


wreck

From Middle English wrek, from Anglo-Norman wrek, from Old Norse *wrek (Norwegian and Icelandic rek, Swedish vrak, Danish vrag), from Proto-Germanic *wrekaną, whence also Old English wrecan (English wreak), Old High German rehhan, Old Saxon wrekan, Gothic 𐍅𐍂𐌹𐌺𐌰𐌽 (wrikan).

An event in which something is damaged through collision.

(specifically, nautical) A shipwreck: an event in which a ship is heavily damaged or destroyed.


bay

From Middle English, from Old French baee, beee, from the verb beer (“gape open”), from Early Medieval Latin batāre. Compare Modern French baie. More at bevel, badinage.

(nautical) Each of the spaces, port and starboard, between decks, forward of the bitts, in sailing warships.

There is a short bay at the west end of each platform, but neither is used for passenger trains.

1946 May and June, G. A. Sekon, “L.B.S.C.R. West Coast Section—3”, in Railway Magazine, page 149:


shield

From Middle English scheld, shelde, from Old English scield (“shield”), from Proto-West Germanic *skeldu, from Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“cut, split”). Cognate with West Frisian skyld, Dutch schild (“shield”), German Schild (“shield”), Danish skjold (“shield”), Icelandic skjöldur (“shield”) and Faroese skjøldur (“shield”).
Compare Latin scūtum (“shield”), Irish sciath (“shield”), Latgalian škīda (“shield”), Lithuanian skydas (“shield”), Russian щит (ščit, “shield”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover, protect”), *skey- (“to cut, split”).

noncog

A shape like that of a shield; usually, an inverted triangle with sides that curve inward to form a pointed bottom, commonly used for police identifications and company logos.

(transport) A sign or symbol, usually containing numbers and sometimes letters, identifying a highway route.

wegwijzer

transportation: a sign or symbol identifying a highway route.

(automotive, British English) Parts at the front and back of a vehicle which are meant to absorb the impact of a collision


triage

en-noun

triage (countable and uncountable, plural triages)

From French triage, from trier (“to sort”).

Similarly, any group of sidings is known to army railway personnel as a "triage". This word is derived from the French verb trier, which means literally "to sort," and hence "triage" has become the common army expression for a marshalling yard.

1943 September and October, “Military and Civil Railways”, in Railway Magazine, page 257:

(rail transport, military, British) A marshalling yard, classification yard.


dirk

Etymology unknown, apparently from Scots dirk.
First attested in 1602 as dork, in the later 17th century as durk. The spelling dirk is due to Johnson's Dictionary of 1755.
Early quotations as well as Johnson 1755 suggest that the word is of Scottish Gaelic origin, but no such Gaelic word is known. The Gaelic name for the weapon is biodag. Gaelic duirc is merely an 18th-century adoption of the English word.
A possible derivation is from the North Germanic/Scandinavian personal name Dirk (short for Diederik), which is used of lock-picking tools (but not of knives or daggers). Alternatively a corruption of Low German Dulk, Dolk (“dagger”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *dulkaz, *dalkaz (“knife, dagger”), related to Saterland Frisian Dolk (“dagger”), West Frisian dolk (“dagger”), Dutch dolk (“dagger”), German Dolch (“dagger”).

unk

unknown

In half a minute he had reached the port scuppers, and picked, out of a coil of rope, a long knife, or rather a short dirk, discolored to the hilt with blood.

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

In this kit was the ‘Officer of the Watch’ telescope from Dolland and Sons, presented to me by my godmother, Inman's Nautical Tables, a parallel ruler, and, of course, a dirk.

1996, Frank Twiss, Social Change in the Royal Navy, 1924–1970:

(nautical) A ceremonial dagger worn by naval or air force officers in some nations' militaries; formerly, a fighting dagger used by sailors as a boarding weapon.

dirk

a ceremonial dagger worn by naval officers; formerly, a boarding weapon used by sailors


phaeton

It had been settled that Lorraine was to drive Emily in his phaeton. It is true the sun was full in her eyes, the wind high, and the dust, which is just mud in high spirits, flew round them in clouds; but Emily found her ride delightful.

1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXI, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 260:

...I saw the girls of Nob Hill on their way to school, kicking pebbles at each other and laughing; I saw young ladies coming home past curfew in their beaus' phaetons...

2004, Andrew Sean Greer, The Confessions of Max Tivoli, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, page 43:

(vehicles) a light four-wheeled open carriage drawn by four horses

(automotive) a large open touring motorcar with a folding top


rebore

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:

(automotive) The process of modifying the bore of an engine.


brow

From Middle English browe, from Old English brū, from Proto-West Germanic *brāwu, from Proto-Germanic *brūwō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃bʰrúHs (“brow”).
Compare Middle Irish brúad, Tocharian B pärwāne (“eyebrows”), Lithuanian bruvìs, Serbo-Croatian obrva, Russian бровь (brovʹ), Ancient Greek ὀφρύς (ophrús), Sanskrit भ्रू (bhrū)), Persian ابرو (abru, “eyebrow”), Khowar بروُ (bruú).

(nautical) The gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay.

сходня

the gangway from ship to shore when a ship is lying alongside a quay

(nautical) The hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp.

ramppi

the hinged part of a landing craft or ferry which is lowered to form a landing platform; a ramp


inflatable

(nautical) A boat or dinghy that may be inflated when needed.


reverse

From Middle English revers, from Anglo-Norman revers, Middle French revers, and their source, Latin reversus, perfect passive participle of reversō, from re- + versō. Doublet of revers.

обратен

having the order of its constituents moved backwards

(rail transport, of points) To be in the non-default position; to be set for the lesser-used route.

invertito

of points: to be in the non-default position


reverse

en-verb

reverse (third-person singular simple present reverses, present participle reversing, simple past and past participle reversed)

reverses (present singular third-person)
reversing (participle present)
reversed (participle past)
reversed (past)

unreverse

antonym(s) of “to turn something in the opposite direction”

From Middle English reversen, from Anglo-Norman reverser, Middle French reverser, and their source, Latin reversō, from re- + versō.

реверсирам

to cause a mechanism or vehicle to operate or move in the opposite directions

tolat

rail transport, of points: to move from the normal position to the reverse position

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:

(ergative, transport) To cause a mechanism to operate or move in the opposite direction to normal; to drive a vehicle in the direction the driver has the back.

(rail transport, transitive) To place (a set of points) in the reverse position.

(rail transport, intransitive, of points) To move from the normal position to the reverse position.


allision

From Latin allisiō, from allīdō (“to strike or dash against”). cf. collision.

Implicit in 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. Evidence of compliance with the required standard of care might take the form of evidence of inevitable accident, evidence of superior force, or even evidence negating the happening of the allision. In short, evidence that the operator was free of negligence or that the allision could reasonably have occurred because of factors other than the operator's negligent conduct is necessary. Based upon the evidence in the instant case, the argument that unforeseeable circumstances caused the allision misses the mark.

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

...contact of a vessel with a stationary object such as an anchored vessel or a pier. In modem practice, “collision” is often used where “allision” was once the preferred term

2004 Bryan A. Garner ed. Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed.)

(nautical) The striking of a vessel against a fixed object; the act of alliding or an instance thereof.


rider

writer (with flapping but without Canadian raising)

From Middle English ryder, ridere, from Late Old English rīdere (“rider, knight”); equivalent to ride + -er. Compare Dutch rijder, German Reiter.

kalorës

one who rides — see also cyclist, driver

fo-fhadhb

math: problem of extra difficulty added to another on an examination paper

(nautical, in the plural) The second tier of casks in a vessel's hold.


wild

en-adj

wild (comparative wilder, superlative wildest)

wilder (comparative)
wildest (superlative)

From Middle English wild, wilde, from Old English wilde, from Proto-West Germanic *wilþī, from Proto-Germanic *wilþijaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- (“hair, wool, grass, ear (of corn), forest”).
Cognates
Cognate with West Frisian wyld, Dutch wild, German wild, Danish vild, Swedish vild, Norwegian vill, Icelandic villtur.

wild chamomile

Matricaria discoidea or Tripleurospermum inodorum

wild pink

Silene caroliniana or Dianthus sect. Fimbriatum spp.


fill

en-verb

fill (third-person singular simple present fills, present participle filling, simple past and past participle filled)

fills (present singular third-person)
filling (participle present)
filled (participle past)
filled (past)

empty

antonym(s) of “add contents to a container or cavity”

From Middle English fillen, fullen, from Old English fyllan (“to fill, fill up, replenish, satisfy; complete, fulfill”), from Proto-West Germanic *fullijan, from Proto-Germanic *fullijaną (“to make full, fill”), from *fullaz (“full”), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁nós (“full”).
Cognate with Scots fill (“to fill”), West Frisian folje (“to fill”), Low German füllen (“to fill”), Dutch vullen (“to fill”), German füllen (“to fill”), Danish fylde (“to fill”), Swedish fylla (“to fill”), Norwegian fylle (“to fill”), Icelandic fylla (“to fill”) and Latin plenus (“full”)

inh

(transitive, nautical) To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.


dunker

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

Active sonar, for aircraft purposes still largely associated with dunking, suffers less variability but often has less range. […] Development of both dunkers and sonobuoys continues towards lower frequencies, implying bigger arrays, and deeper deployments.

1986, Jane's Defence Weekly, volume 6, page 1285:

Then they drop the dunker into the water and spin it around a few times so you end up upside-down.

2013, Philip Kaplan, Naval Air: Celebrating a Century of Naval Flying, page 179:


camber

From Old French cambre (“bent”), from Latin camurum, from camur (“arched”).

(automotive) The alignment on the roll axis of the wheels of a road vehicle, where positive camber signifies that the wheels are closer together at the bottom than the top.

(nautical) A small enclosed dock in which timber for masts (etc.) is kept to weather.

bolzone

nautical: small enclosed dock for mast timber


davit

The word davit is derived from Middle English and Old French daviot, which is a diminutive of David; thus it means "little David", maybe because those small cranes can handle a much bigger lifeboat.

(nautical) A spar formerly used on board of ships, as a crane to hoist the flukes of the anchor to the top of the bow, without injuring the sides of the ship.

A solid, pyramid-like hummock of ice, left to starboard as the steamer ascended, and which projected close alongside the upper, or boat-deck, as she fell over, had caught, in succession, every pair of davits to starboard, bending and wrenching them, smashing boats, and snapping tackles and gripes, until, as the ship cleared herself, it capped the pile of wreckage strewing the ice in front of, and around it, with the end and broken stanchions of the bridge.

1912, Morgan Robertson, The Wreck of the Titan: Or, Futility:

(nautical, construction) A crane, often working in pairs and usually made of steel, used to lower things over an edge of a long drop off, such as lowering a maintenance trapeze down a building or launching a lifeboat over the side of a ship.

吊艇柱

crane to sling a lifeboat, maintenance trapeze etc

fish davit

spar used to hoist the flukes of the anchor


careen

en-verb

careen (third-person singular simple present careens, present participle careening, simple past and past participle careened)

careens (present singular third-person)
careening (participle present)
careened (participle past)
careened (past)

Late 16th century, from French carène (“keel”), from Genoese Ligurian carena, from Latin carīna (“keel of a ship”). Doublet of carene and carina.

However, to avoid ſome inconveniencies relating to port duties, which would have been demanded in the port of Canton, and could not, in honour to the British flag, be complied with by us, he adviſed Mr Anſon to put into the harbour of Typa, about ſix miles from Macao, where he might careen his ſhip without diſturbance ; and actually ſent us a pilot to conduct us ſafe to the intended birth.

1749 July, “Anſon's voyage of the world”, in The Scots Magazine, volume xi, pages 333-334:

(nautical, transitive) To heave a ship down on one side so as to expose the other, in order to clean it of barnacles and weed, or to repair it below the water line.

накренявам

to heave a ship down on one side so as to expose the other

(nautical, intransitive) To tilt on one side.


careen

(nautical) The position of a ship laid on one side.


aspect

From Middle English aspect, from Latin aspectus (“look, sight; appearance”), from aspiciō (“see; catch sight of; inspect”), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + speciō (“look, look at, behold; observe”).

suunta

position in respect to points of a compass, the sun, etc.

takoto

of the position of land in relation to the sun

It was in this work [on the Southern Railway] that the four-aspect system of indications, using red, yellow, double yellow, and green, was first installed. […][page 229, photo caption] Three-aspect colour-light signal with three-way junction indicator, Bow Junction, Eastern Region

1951 April, T. S. Lascelles, “British Railway Signalling since 1925”, in Railway Magazine, number 600, page 228:

The whole of the main lines to be electrified were being equipped with four-aspect colour-light signals, automatically operated, where appropriate, and spaced to give a 5min headway throughout.

1961 December, “Planning the London Midland main-line electrification”, in Trains Illustrated, page 719:

SWR [South Western Railway] said the move was a precautionary measure, understood to relate to electromagnetic emissions from the fleet causing changes of signal aspect in front of moving trains.

2019 October, “'442s' withdrawn due to signal interaction issues”, in Modern Railways, page 87:

(rail transport) The visual indication of a colour light (or mechanical) signal as displayed to the driver. With three-aspect colour light signals this would be red, yellow or green, and on four-aspect signals, double-yellow also; a two-aspect signal displays red or green.


bitt

en-verb

bitt (third-person singular simple present bitts, present participle bitting, simple past and past participle bitted)

bitts (present singular third-person)
bitting (participle present)
bitted (participle past)
bitted (past)

to bitt the cable, in order to fasten it or to slacken it gradually, which is called veering away

(nautical, transitive) To put round the bitts.


earing

(nautical) A line used to fasten the upper corners of a sail to the yard or gaff.

You've forgot to pass the tack-earing, but wid time and help ye'll larn. There's good and just reason for ivry rope aboard, or else 'twould be overboard. D'ye follow me?

1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:

(nautical) A line for hauling the reef cringle to the yard.

(nautical) A line fastening the corners of an awning to the rigging or stanchions.


bunt

en-noun

bunt (countable and uncountable, plural bunts)

Unknown. Perhaps a nasalised variant of butt.

The bunt of the sail was green.

(nautical) The middle part, cavity, or belly of a sail; the part of a furled sail which is at the center of the yard.


bunt

en-verb

bunt (third-person singular simple present bunts, present participle bunting, simple past and past participle bunted)

bunts (present singular third-person)
bunting (participle present)
bunted (participle past)
bunted (past)

The sail bunts.


chock

From Middle English *chokke (“attested in chokkefull”), from Anglo-Norman choque (compare modern Norman chouque), from an Old Northern French variant of Old French çouche, çouche (“block, log”), of Celtic origin, from Gaulish *tsukka (compare Breton soc’h (“thick”), Old Irish tócht (“part, piece”), itself borrowed from Proto-Germanic *stukkaz. Doublet of stock.

inh

attested in <i class="Latn mention" lang="enm">chokkefull</i>

(nautical) Any fitting or fixture used to restrict movement, especially movement of a line; traditionally was a fixture near a bulwark with two horns pointing towards each other, with a gap between where the line can be inserted.

кнехт

nautical: fitting or fixture used to restrict movement, especially movement of a line


chock

en-verb

chock (third-person singular simple present chocks, present participle chocking, simple past and past participle chocked)

chocks (present singular third-person)
chocking (participle present)
chocked (participle past)
chocked (past)


chock

Tom Hickey, our good-humored, blundering cabin-boy, decorated since poor Schubert's death with the dignities of cook, is in that little dirty cot on the starboard side; the rest are bedded in rows, Mr. Brooks and myself chock aft.

1857, Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic Explorations, page 431:

Merchant vessels usually hoist a little on the halyards, so as to clear the sail from the top, then belay them and get the lee sheet chock home; then haul home the weather sheet, shivering the sail by the braces to help it home, and hoist on the halyards until the leaches are well taut, taking a turn with the braces, if the wind is fresh, and slacking them as the yard goes up.

1862, Dana's Seamen's Friend: Containing a Treatise on Practical Seamanship:


master

Sranan Tongo: masra

→ Catalan: màster

→ Finnish: master

→ French: master

→ German: Master

→ Polish: master

→ Portuguese: máster

→ Spanish: máster

→ Turkish: master

From Middle English maister, mayster, meister (noun) and maistren (verb), from Old English mǣster, mæġster, mæġester, mæġister, magister (“master”), from Latin magister (“chief, teacher, leader”), from Old Latin magester, from Proto-Indo-European *méǵh₂s, (as in magnus (“great”)) + -ester/-ister (compare minister (“servant”)). Reinforced by Old French maistre, mestre (noun) and maistriier, maister (verb) from the same Latin source. Compare also Saterland Frisian Mäster (“master”), West Frisian master (“master”), Dutch meester (“master”), German Meister (“master”). Doublet of maestro, magister, and meister.

doublet

Southern US, African-American Vernacular, obsolete

use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house

(nautical) The captain of a merchant ship; a master mariner.


master

a two-master

(nautical, in combination) A vessel having a specified number of masts.


ganger

From Middle English ganger, from Old English gangere (“a ganger, footman”), equivalent to gang + -er. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Gunger, West Frisian gonger, Dutch ganger, German Gänger, Danish gjænger, ganger, Swedish gängare, Icelandic gangari.

inh

Primary responsibility must rest with a ganger. He failed to appreciate the danger of disturbing the track, short of ballast, on a very hot day.

1950 March, “Notes and News: Merstham Quarry Derailment”, in Railway Magazine, page 210:

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:

'My dad was a railway ganger.'

1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 159:

(business, rail transport) One who oversees a gang of workmen.

(nautical) A length of chain, one end of which is fastened to an anchor when let go, when the other end is fastened to a hawser.


gaiter

Borrowed from French guêtre, from Middle French guiestres, guestes pl, from Old French *gueste, from Frankish *wastiju, from Proto-Germanic *wastijō (“garment; dress”).
Cognate with Middle High German wester (“a child's chrisom-cloth”), Middle High German westebarn (“godchild”), Old English wæstling (“a coverlet”), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍃𐍄𐌹 (wasti, “garment; dress”).

cog

(automotive) A protective flexible sleeve covering a moving part, intended to keep the part clean.


cove

From Middle English cove, from Old English cofa (“chamber; den”), from Proto-West Germanic *kobō, from Proto-Germanic *kubô. Cognate with German Koben, Swedish kova. This word has probably survived as long as it has due to its coincidental phonetic resemblance to the unrelated word English cave. Also unrelated to Spanish cueva, which itself is a cognate of cave.

(nautical) The wooden roof of the stern gallery of an old sailing warship.

(nautical) A thin line, sometimes gilded, along a yacht's strake below deck level.


cowl

From Middle English coule, from Old English cūle, from earlier cugele (“hood, cowl”), from Ecclesiastical Latin cuculla (“monk's cowl”), from Latin cucullus (“hood”), of uncertain origin. Doublet of cagoule.

cucullated

having a hood-like covering or component

He flung himself at the port ventilator as though he meant to tear it out bodily and toss it overboard. All he did was to move the cowl round a few inches, with an enormous expenditure of force, and seemed spent in the effort.

1902 January–March, Joseph Conrad, “Typhoon”, in George R. Halkett, editor, The Pall Mall Magazine, volume XXVI, London: Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, →OCLC, chapter II, page 101:

(nautical) A ship's ventilator with a bell-shaped top which can be swivelled to catch the wind and force it below.

(nautical) A vertical projection of a ship's funnel that directs the smoke away from the bridge.


gam

en-verb

gam (third-person singular simple present gams, present participle gamming, simple past and past participle gammed)

gams (present singular third-person)
gamming (participle present)
gammed (participle past)
gammed (past)

Uncertain but surely formed within English; etymons may include game or gammon.

Although most whalemen looked forward to gamming and enjoyed these ocean-borne gatherings, there were at least a few whalemen who either grew weary of them, or just weary of gamming so often with the same ships over and over.

2008, Eric Jay Dolin, Leviathan: The History of Whaling in America, →ISBN, page 436:

This was early in the summer of 1820, after nearly a year at sea, and they had gammed the whaling ship Aurora, which had on board not only plenty of letters but some newspapers as well.

2011, Paul Schneider, The Enduring Shore: A History of Cape Cod, →ISBN, page 255:

In chapter 2 we saw how gamming whalers sang songs that tied them to their homelands while emphasizing the transient, cosmopolitan nature of their work, […]

2014, James Revell Carr, Hawaiian Music in Motion, →ISBN, page 181:

(nautical, transitive, intransitive) To pay a social visit on another ship at sea.


octant

(nautical) An instrument for measuring angles, particularly of elevation.


reeved

(nautical) Of a rope, passed through a hole, ring or pulley.


hoy

He sent to Germanie, straunge aid to reare, / From whence eftsoones arriued here three hoyes / Of Saxons, whom he for his safetie imployes.

1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto X”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

July 1779, William Cowper, letter to the Rev. William Unwin
The hoy went to London every week.

(nautical) A small coaster vessel, usually sloop-rigged, used in conveying passengers and goods, or as a tender to larger vessels in port.


steeve

(nautical) The angle that a bowsprit makes with the horizon, or with the line of the vessel's keel.


lull

From Middle English lullen, lollen. Originally, perhaps expressive in origin from la-la-la or lu-lu-lu sounds made in calming a child. Compare Finnish laulaa (“to sing”) and Hiligaynon lala (“to sing a lullaby”).
Cognate with Scots lul, lule, loll (“to lull, put to sleep, howl, caterwaul”), Dutch lollen (“to sing badly, caterwaul”), Dutch lullen (“to chatter, prate, cheat, deceive”), Low German lullen (“to lull”), German lullen (“to lull”), Danish lulle (“to lull, sing to sleep”), Swedish lulla (“to lull”), Icelandic lúlla (“to lull”).

onomatopoeic

expressive

cog

[…] during the lull, wind shifted to S. E. […]

1839, The Nautical Magazine and Naval Chronicle for 1839, page 26:

After the lull the wind does not appear to have blown with any great strength […]

1875, W. G. Wilson, Report of the Midnapore and Burdwan Cyclone of the 15th and 16th of October 1874, page 74:

The air under each cloud has spent time near the surface, has been slowed and backed by friction—it is a lull.

2016, David Houghton, Fiona Campbell, Wind Strategy, not paginated:

(nautical) A period without waves or wind.


prow

From Middle French proue, proe, from Ligurian prua, proa, from Latin prōra, from Ancient Greek πρῷρα (prôira).

The floating vessel swum / Uplifted, and secure with beaked prow / rode tilting o'er the waves.

We were already rather close in; but I ordered the U-33's prow turned inshore and we crept slowly along, constantly dipping up the water and tasting it to assure ourselves that we didn't get outside the fresh-water current.

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:


jigger

→ Catalan: gigre

From jig + -er (agent suffix). Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary suggests a possible link to Old High German gīga (“fiddle”).

(nautical) A light tackle, consisting of a double and single block and the fall, used for various purposes, as to increase the purchase on a topsail sheet in hauling it home; the watch tackle.

(nautical, New England) A small fishing vessel, rigged like a yawl.

(rail transport, New Zealand) A railway jigger, a small motorized or human powered vehicle used by railway workers to traverse railway tracks.


winger

We hauled out a winger of grog.

(nautical) One of the casks stowed in the wings of a vessel's hold, being smaller than such as are stowed more amidships.


lye

Variant of lie (“to rest horizontally”) now used in a specialised sense; compare sett.

Brakevan lye. [same page in the main text] There is also an inclined lye for brakevans at each end of the yard.

1962 October, G. Freeman Allen, “The New Look in Scotland's Northern Division—II: The new Perth marshalling yard”, in Modern Railways, page 273, photo caption with indicating arrow:

(UK, rail transport) A short side line, connected with the main line; a turn-out; a siding.


oblique sailing

(nautical) The movement of a ship when she sails upon some rhumb between the four cardinal points, making an oblique angle with the meridian.


cheek

en-noun

cheek (countable and uncountable, plural cheeks)

From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (“to chew”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sooke (“cheek”), West Frisian tsjeak (“jaw”), Dutch kaak (“jaw; cheek”), Swedish käke (“jaw; jowl”), Norwegian kjake (“jaw”), Old Norse kók (“mouth; gullet”).

der

One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.

(nautical) pump-cheek, pump-cheeks, a piece of wood cut out fork-shaped in which the brake is fastened by means of a bolt and can thus move around and move the upper box of the pump up and down

mik

nautical: a piece of wood cut out fork-shaped in which the brake is fastened


laker

From lake (“body of water”) + -er (“inhabitant”) or + -er (relational suffix).

suffix

(nautical, Canada, US) A ship used on the Great Lakes.


compound

From Middle English compounen, from Middle French componre, compondre (“to put together”), from Latin componō, from Latin com- (“together”) + ponō (“to put”).

злучэнне

chemistry: substance made by chemical combination of elements

From a dead stand, with regulator full open and the lever at about 50 per cent we got up to about 60 m.p.h. by the top of the bank. The big compound was making plenty of noise - but what musical and wonderful noise!

1961 March, ""Balmore"", “Driving and firing modern French steam locomotives”, in Trains Illustrated, page 148:

(rail transport) A compound locomotive, a steam locomotive with both high-pressure and low-pressure cylinders.


skeet

Unknown. Compare Icelandic skeið (“spoon”), from Old Norse skeið (“a sheath”). Attested from the 15th century; see quotation below.

The best method for wetting the after sails is with a garden syringe or small engine[…] For the head sails a skeet made of tough ash, having a good long handle ; the head or skeeting part curves scimitar fashion, to be about three and a half feet in length, and scooped out an inch and a half in width by two and a half inches in depth

1862, Vanderdecken [William Cooper], The Yacht Sailor, page 131:

(nautical) A scoop with a long handle, used to wash the sides of a vessel and formerly to wet the sails or deck.


skeet

en-verb

skeet (third-person singular simple present skeets, present participle skeeting, simple past and past participle skeeted)

skeets (present singular third-person)
skeeting (participle present)
skeeted (participle past)
skeeted (past)

It is a customary rule in all sailing matches that the sails of competing vessels should not be skeeted (i.e. wetted), except when the vessel is on a wind

1870, Henry Coleman Folkard, The Sailing Boat, page 161:

(nautical, dated) To wet the sails or deck of a vessel.


withe

From Middle English withe, withthe, from Old English wiþe, wiþþe (“cord, band, thong, fetter”), from Proto-Germanic *wiþiz, *wiþjǭ (“cord, rope”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéh₁itis (“that which twines”), from *weyt- (“that which winds or bends, branch, switch”), from Proto-Indo-European *wey- (“to turn, wind, bend”). Cognate with Danish vidje (“wicker”), Swedish vidja (“withe, wicker, osier”), Icelandic við, viðja (“a withe”), Latin vītis (“vine”), Russian ветвь (vetvʹ, “branch, bough, limb”). Doublet of vice (“a type of tool, etc.”). The brickwork and chimney architecture senses may have a different etymology, see wythe.

doublet

Some short topgallant masts are rigged with a withe on the after part of the mast-head, through which a sliding-gunter royal-mast is run up, with its heel resting in a step on the topmast cap.

1841, Richard Henry Dana, The Seaman's Friend:

(nautical) An iron attachment on one end of a mast or boom, with a ring, through which another mast or boom is rigged out and secured.


plumb

From Middle English plumbe, plumme, from Old French *plombe, from Latin plumba, plural of plumbum.

(nautical) A weight on the end of a long line, used by sailors to determine the depth of water.


plumb

en-verb

plumb (third-person singular simple present plumbs, present participle plumbing, simple past and past participle plumbed)

plumbs (present singular third-person)
plumbing (participle present)
plumbed (participle past)
plumbed (past)

(nautical) To position vertically above or below.


vail

vail (third-person singular simple present vails, present participle vailing, simple past and past participle vailed)

vails (present singular third-person)
vailing (participle present)
vailed (participle past)
vailed (past)

From Middle English valen; either from Anglo-Norman valer or a clipping of avalen. Compare avale.

Both we will walke vpon the loftie cliffes,
And Chriſtian Merchants that with Ruſſian ſtems
Plow vp huge furrowes in the Caſpian ſea,
Shall vaile to vs, as Lords of al the Lake.

c. 1587–1588, [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC; reprinted as Tamburlaine the Great (A Scolar Press Facsimile), Menston, Yorkshire, London: Scolar Press, 1973, →ISBN, Act I, scene ii:

(intransitive, obsolete, nautical) To lower a sail, in salute or otherwise.


strop

Same as strap (which see); recorded in English since 1702. The verb sense referring to honing a sharp edge is recorded since 1842.

(nautical) A piece of rope spliced into a circular wreath, and put round a block for hanging it.


shunt

shunt (third-person singular simple present shunts, present participle shunting, simple past and past participle shunted)

shunts (present singular third-person)
shunting (participle present)
shunted (participle past)
shunted (past)

From Middle English shunten, schunten, schonten, schounten, shont, shonte, shount, shounten, shunte (“to move rapidly or suddenly, jerk; to swerve, turn away; to avoid, dodge, escape, evade”), either:
* possibly a back-formation from Middle English shǒnen (“to decline to do, refuse; to abandon, forsake; to disdain, dislike, hate; to avoid, escape; to be afraid, fear; to be wary of”), from Old English sċunian, sċyniġan; see shun. Or
* an alteration of Middle English shunden, *schunden, *schinden, from Old English sċyndan, sċendan (“to hasten, hurry”) (as in āsċyndan (“to remove, take away”), from Proto-West Germanic *skundijan, from Proto-Germanic *skundijaną (“to compel, drive, push; to accelerate, rush, speed up”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew(n)t- (“to rattle, shake”).
* from unrecorded Old English *sċunettan, a derivative of sċunian (“to shun, avoid”).
The English word is cognate with Danish skynde (“to hasten, hurry, speed”), Icelandic skynda, skunda (“to hasten”), Middle High German schünden (“to compel; to urge; to irritate”), Norwegian skynde (“to hurry, rush”), Swedish skynda (“to hasten, hurry; to scuttle, scurry”). Outside Germanic, compare Sanskrit स्कन्दति (skándati, “to dart, leap, spring, spurt or burst forth, ejaculate, assail, drop, split”), Albanian shkund (“to shake; to swig”).
As regards the noun sense, compare Middle English shunt (“swerve; sudden jerk”), derived from the verb.

cog

Porter, run over while shunting a luggage train, in consequence of his getting entangled in shunting-rope.

1846, “Report”, in Report of the Officers of the Railway Department to the Lords of the Committee of the Privy Council for Trade: With Appendices I. & II. For the Years 1844–45. […] (House of Commons of the United Kingdom, 1846 Session, Accounts and Papers; 15 (Railway Department)), volume XXXIX, London: Printed by W[illiam] Clowes and Sons, […], for Her Majesty's Stationery Office, →OCLC, class no. 3 (Accidents Attended with Personal Injury to Servants of the Company, under Circumstances Not Involving Danger to the Public), page xxi:

But despite its plague of tunnels, the run-in on this route is of unusual interest to the locomotive enthusiast: besides the hordes of self-important saddle-tanks shunting in the extensive yards, there was at one time the chance of seeing those slender little North London engines, with their large outside cylinders and no visible storage place for coal, and also an occasional South Eastern locomotive sporting a lot of polished brass.

1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 704:

(transitive, rail transport) To move a train from one track to another, or to move carriages, etc. from one train to another.

The main argument for the use of culpability as a categorizer is that some accidents can be said to be independent of the behaviour of at least one of the drivers, for example, being shunted when having stopped for a red light (in a slow and controlled manner, at least).

2017, Anders af Wåhlberg, “Traffic Accident Involvement Taxonomies”, in Driver Behaviour and Accident Research Methodology: Unresolved Problems (Human Factors in Road and Rail Transport), Boca Raton, Fla.: CRC Press, →ISBN:

(transitive, chiefly road transport, informal, British) To have a minor collision, especially in a motor car.


shunt

These improvements consist, firstly, in a novel construction of apparatus to be attached to or applied upon railways, at those parts termed switches, shunts, or moveable rails, which are commonly used for transferring engines, carriages, or trains, from one line of rails to another, as occasion may require, and which apparatus I call a "switch or shunt protector."

1838 December 17, John Hawkshaw, “[Recent Patents.] To John Hawkshaw, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Civil Engineer, for His Invention of Certain Improvements in Mechanism or Apparatus Applicable to Railways, and also to Carriages to be Used thereon”, in W[illiam] Newton, editor, The London Journal and Repertory of Arts, Sciences, and Manufactures, volume XV (Conjoined Series), number XCII, London: Published by W. Newton, […], published 1840, →OCLC, page 74:

(rail transport) A switch on a railway used to move a train from one track to another.

At the first race in Brazil, I became involved in a four-car shunt. I won't go into too much detail now, except to say that the accident had nothing to do with me. […] Everyone else was avoiding the accident when [Jos] Verstappen lost control on the grass, came right into me – and off we all went. It was a huge shunt.

2017, Eddie Irvine, with Maurice Hamilton, “No Big Deal”, in Green Races Red, updated edition, London: CollinsWillow, →ISBN:

(chiefly road transport, informal, British) A minor collision between vehicles.


bifurcation

en-noun

bifurcation (countable and uncountable, plural bifurcations)

(nautical) The point where a channel divides when proceeding from seaward.


thrum

From Middle English thrum, throm (> Anglo-French trome), from Old English *þrum (found in tungeþrum (“ligament of the tongue”)) from Proto-Germanic *þrumą. Cognate with German Trumm and Old Norse thrǫmr (“edge, brim”).

(nautical, chiefly in the plural) Small pieces of rope yarn used for making mats or mops.

(nautical) A mat made of canvas and tufts of yarn.


thrum

en-verb

thrum (third-person singular simple present thrums, present participle thrumming, simple past and past participle thrummed)

thrums (present singular third-person)
thrumming (participle present)
thrummed (participle past)
thrummed (past)

to thrum a piece of canvas, or a mat, thus making a rough or tufted surface

(nautical) To insert short pieces of rope-yarn or spun yarn in.


belay

belay (third-person singular simple present belays, present participle belaying, simple past and past participle belayed or belaid)

belays (present singular third-person)
belaying (participle present)
belayed (participle past)
belayed (past)
belaid (participle past)
belaid (past)

From Middle English beleggen, bileggen, from Old English beleċġan (“to cover, invest, surround, afflict, attribute to, charge with, accuse”), From Proto-West Germanic *bilaggjan, equivalent to be- (“about, around”) + lay. Cognate with Dutch beleggen (“to cover, overlay, belay”), German belegen (“to cover, occupy, belay”), Swedish belägga (“to pave”).

cog

(transitive, intransitive, nautical) To make (a rope) fast by turning it around a fastening point such as a cleat.

навивам

to make fast by turning around a fastening point

(intransitive, nautical) The general command to stop or cease.


bream

en-verb

bream (third-person singular simple present breams, present participle breaming, simple past and past participle breamed)

breams (present singular third-person)
breaming (participle present)
breamed (participle past)
breamed (past)

Compare broom, and German brennen (as in ein Schiff brennen).

(nautical) To clean (e.g. a ship's bottom of clinging shells, seaweed, etc.) by the application of fire and scraping.


dhow

I suppose I must have slept for seven or eight hours, getting the first real rest that I had had since the night before the loss of the dhow, for when I woke the sun was high in the heavens.

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

Joshua continued preparing breakfast, Bijan returned to piloting the dhow offshore and Pourghasem returned to his watch.[…]Several dhows were on the water and some fishermen were already at work.

2001, David M Besaw, Joshua, Trafford Publishing, page 251:

The navy sometimes hired dhows for its patrols.[…]If a dhow was stopped, the slaves could not be counted on to make their presence known, having probably been told that the Europeans would kill them.

2003, Suzanne Miers, Slavery in the Twentieth Century: The Evolution of a Global Problem, Rowman & Littlefield (AltaMira), page 78:

They took a dhow from Mombasa bound for Aden and planned to take a larger vessel to Suez and then overland to Cairo.

2011, J. W. Heldring, The Killing of Dr. Albrecht Roscher, Xlibris, page 109:

In contemporary Anglophone usage, the term ‘dhow’ has come to refer generically and exonymically to traditional wooden vessels of the western Indian Ocean, whatever their particular forms or emic classification.

2015, John P. Cooper, Dionisius A. Agius, Tom Collie, Faisal al-Naimi, “Boat and ship engravings at al-Zubārah, Qatar: the dāw exposed?”, in Proceedings of the Seminar for Arabian Studies, volume 45: Papers from the forty-eighth meeting of the Seminar for Arabian Studies held at the British Museum, London, 25 to 27 July 2014 (2015), →ISSN, pages 35–47:

(nautical) A traditional sailing vessel used along the coasts of Arabia, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean, generally having a single mast and a lateen sail.


cleat

From Middle English clete, from Old English *clēat, clēot, from Proto-Germanic *klautaz (“firm lump”), from Proto-Indo-European *gelewd-, from *gley- (“to glue, stick together, form into a ball”). Cognate with Dutch kloot (“ball; testicle”) and German Kloß. See also clay and clout.

(nautical) A device to quickly affix a line or rope, and from which it is also easy to release.


cleat

cleat (third-person singular simple present cleats, present participle cleating, simple past and past participle cleated)

cleats (present singular third-person)
cleating (participle present)
cleated (participle past)
cleated (past)

Coordinate term: moor

(nautical) To tie off, affix, stopper a line or rope, especially to a cleat.


beacon

From Middle English beken, from Old English bēacn (“sign, signal”), from Proto-West Germanic *baukn, from Proto-Germanic *baukną (compare West Frisian beaken (“buoy”), Dutch baken (“beacon”), Middle Low German bāke (“beacon, sign”), German Bake (“traffic sign”), Middle High German bouchen (“sign”)), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂u-, *bʰeh₂- (“to shine”).

emergency position indicating radio beacon

Henceforth, wherever thou may’st roam, / My blessing, like a line of light, / Is on the waters day and night, / And like a beacon guards thee home.

1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XVII, page 28:

(nautical) A signal, buoy, post, or other conspicuous mark erected on an eminence near the shore, or moored in shoal water, as a guide to mariners, particularly to warn vessels of danger.

مَنَار

signaling or guiding mark erected as guide to mariners


spar

From Middle English sparre (“spar, rafter, beam”) (noun), sparren (“to close, bar”) (verb), from Middle Dutch sparre or Middle Low German Sparre, all ultimately from Proto-Germanic *sparrô (“stake, beam”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)par- (“beam, log”). Compare Dutch spar (“balk”), German Sparren (“rafter, spar”), Danish sparre (“spar”), Albanian shparr, shpardh (“kind of oak”). Perhaps also compare spear.

der

(nautical) Any linear object used as a mast, sprit, yard, boom, pole or gaff.

ранго́ут

nautical: linear object used as a mast, sprit, yard, boom, pole or gaff


breech

en-noun

breech (countable and uncountable, plural breeches)

From Middle English breche, from Old English brēċ, from Proto-Germanic *brōkiz pl, from Proto-Germanic *brōks (“clothing for loins and thighs”). Cognate with Dutch broek, Alemannic German Bruech, Swedish brok. Doublet of vraka.

der

(nautical) The external angle of knee timber, the inside of which is called the throat.


freighter

(nautical) A vessel used mainly to carry freight; a cargo ship.


douse

en-verb

douse (third-person singular simple present douses, present participle dousing, simple past and past participle doused)

douses (present singular third-person)
dousing (participle present)
doused (participle past)
doused (past)

From Middle English duschen, dusshen (“to rush, fall”), related to Norwegian dusa (“to break, cast down from”), Old Dutch doesen (“to beat, strike”), dialectal German tusen, dusen (“to strike, run against, collide”), Saterland Frisian dössen (“to strike”). Compare doss, dust.

cog

Douse the topsail!

(transitive, nautical) To strike or lower in haste; to slacken suddenly

vetäistä alas

strike or lower in haste; slacken suddenly


breach

en-verb

breach (third-person singular simple present breaches, present participle breaching, simple past and past participle breached)

breaches (present singular third-person)
breaching (participle present)
breached (participle past)
breached (past)

From Middle English breche, from Old English bryċe (“fracture, breach”) and brǣċ (“breach, breaking, destruction”), from Proto-West Germanic *bruki, from Proto-Germanic *brukiz (“breach, fissure”) and *brēkō (“breaking”).

inh

On this occasion, the damage was far more serious. The sea wall was breached completely for a distance of over 50 yd., and the gap had to be bridged by a temporary timber viaduct.

1947 January and February, H. A. Vallance, “The Sea Wall at Dawlish”, in Railway Magazine, page 18:

(transitive, nautical, of the sea) To break into a ship or into a coastal defence.


banker

Between them these engines work passenger trains on the Keith line, and also act as bankers up to Dava when required.

1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23:

Because of a shortage of W.R. pannier tanks, two "E6" 0-6-2 tanks, Nos. 32410/5, were engaged as bankers on the Folkestone Harbour branch at the beginning of March; [...].

1960 May, “Motive Power Miscellany: Southern Region”, in Trains Illustrated, page 314:

(rail transport, British, Australia) A railway locomotive that can be attached to the rear of a train to assist it in climbing an incline.


wale

The noun is from Middle English wāle (“planking, welt”), from Old English walu (“ridge, bank; rib, comb (of helmet); metal ridge on top of helmet; weal, mark of a blow”), from Proto-Germanic *waluz (“stick, root”), from Proto-Indo-European *welH- (“to turn, wind, roll”). Akin to Low German wāle; Old Norse vala (“knuckle”). The verb is from late Middle English wālen, from the noun.

der

The strakes between the several ranges of ports, beginning from under the upper-deck ports of a three-decked ship in the royal navy, are called the channel wale, the middle wale, and the main wale.

1863, Andrew Murray, Ship-building in Iron and Wood, page 93:

(nautical) A horizontal ridge or ledge on the outside planking of a wooden ship. (See gunwale, chainwale)


winker

From wink (“blinking of only one eye”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns).

silmäniskijä

A thing which is used to wink with, or which winks.

(automotive, informal) Synonym of turn signal (“each of the flashing lights on each side of a vehicle which is used to indicate that the vehicle is moving left or right”); a blinker, an indicator.


brace

From Middle English brace, from Old French brace (“arm”), from Latin bracchia, the nominative and accusative plural of bracchium (“arm”).

(nautical) A rope reeved through a block at the end of a yard, by which the yard is moved horizontally; also, a rudder gudgeon.


brace

en-verb

brace (third-person singular simple present braces, present participle bracing, simple past and past participle braced)

braces (present singular third-person)
bracing (participle present)
braced (participle past)
braced (past)

to brace the yards

(nautical) To swing round the yards of a square rigged ship, using braces, to present a more efficient sail surface to the direction of the wind.


hybridization

en-noun

hybridization (countable and uncountable, plural hybridizations)

He said he has read up on the hybridization of vessels, and described it as “extremely costly,” but conceded it’s “where the industry is heading.”

2019, Rich Saltzberg, “Taylor, Gazzaniga press SSA to electrify fleet”, in MV Times:

(transport) the conversion of a fleet of vehicles to hybrids.


chute

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

(nautical, slang, by extension) A spinnaker.


galley

galley (plural galleys or (obsolete) gallies)

galleys (plural)
gallies (obsolete plural)

From Middle English galeie, from Old French galee, from Latin galea, from Byzantine Greek γάλεα (gálea) of unknown origin, probably from Ancient Greek γαλέη (galéē), a kind of a small fish, from γαλεός (galeós, “dog-fish or small shark”). Doublet of galea.

(nautical, historical) A long, slender ship propelled primarily by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; usually a rowed warship used in the Mediterranean from the 16th century until the modern era.

(nautical) One of the small boats carried by a man-of-war.

kaleeri

nautical: small boat carried by a man-of-war

(nautical) The cookroom or kitchen and cooking apparatus of a vessel or aircraft; sometimes on merchant vessels called the caboose.

камбуз

cooking room or kitchen and cooking apparatus of a vessel or aircraft


corvette

Unadapted borrowing from French corvette.

ubor

(nautical, historical) A flush-decked warship of the 17th-18th centuries having a single tier of guns; it ranked next below a frigate; – called in the United States navy a sloop of war.

(nautical) In a modern navy, a lightly armed and armoured blue water warship, smaller than a frigate, capable of transoceanic duty.

(science fiction, by extension) A starship of comparable role


instrumentation

en-noun

instrumentation (countable and uncountable, plural instrumentations)

The car's instrumentation included fuel, temperature, voltimeter and oil pressure gauges, along with a speedometer and tachometer.

(automotive) On a vehicle, dashboard gauges monitoring engine functions and performance, along with other essential functions.


flake

Compare Icelandic flaki, Icelandic fleki, Danish flage, Dutch vlaak.

(nautical) A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on while calking, etc.

Flake after flake ran out of the tubs, until we were compelled to hand the end of our line to the second mate to splice his own on to.

1898, Frank T. Bullen, The Cruise of the Cachalot: The Story of a New Bedford Whaler:

(nautical) Alternative form of fake (“turn or coil of cable or hawser”)