new

en-noun

new (countable and uncountable, plural news)

From Middle English newe, from Old English nīewe, from Proto-West Germanic *niwi, from Proto-Germanic *niwjaz, from Proto-Indo-European *néwyos (“new”), from *néwos.
Cognates
Cognate with Scots new (“new”), West Frisian nij (“new”), Dutch nieuw (“new”), Low German nee (“new”), German neu (“new”), Danish, Norwegian and Swedish ny (“new”), Icelandic nýr (“new”), Faroese nýggjur (“new”), Latin novus (“new”), Ancient Greek νέος (néos, “new”), Welsh newydd (“new”), Russian но́вый (nóvyj, “new”), Armenian նոր (nor, “new”), Persian نو (now, “new”),Northern Kurdish nû (“new”), Hindi नया (nayā, “new”), Tocharian B ñuwe (“new”).
Compare also Old English nū (“now”). More at now. Doublet of nuevo and novuss.

In the Britannia "news" were worms, to be trodden on […]

1956, Naval Review (London), volume 44, page 286:

(UK, naval slang, countable) A naval cadet who has just embarked on training.


hack

hack (countable and uncountable, plural hacks)

From Middle English hacken, hakken, from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop; hoe; hew”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“to be sharp; peg; hook; handle”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian häkje (“to hack”), West Frisian hakje (“to hack”), Dutch hakken (“to chop up; hack”), German hacken (“to chop; hack; hoe”), Danish hakke (“to chop”), Swedish hacka (“to hack; chop”), French hacher (“to chop”).
The computer senses date back to at least 1955 when it initially referred to creative problem solving. By 1963, the negative connotations of “black hat” or malicious hacking had become associated with telephone hacking (cf. phreaking).

inh

You've been busted, you lost your qualifications as section leader three times, put in hack twice by me, with a history of high speed passes over five air control towers, and one admiral's daughter!

1986, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Top Gun (motion picture), spoken by Stinger (James Tolkan):

“Lieutenant Cauthen, you've got ten seconds to explain yourself before I put you in hack!”

2013, David Cauthen, When Destiny Comes to a Fork in the Road, page 426:

(uncountable, slang, naval) Confinement of an officer to their stateroom as a punishment.


grape

en-noun

grape (countable and uncountable, plural grapes)

From Middle English grape, from Old French grape, grappe, crape (“cluster of fruit or flowers, bunch of grapes”), from graper, craper (“to pick grapes”, literally “to hook”), of Germanic origin, from Frankish *krappō (“hook”), from Proto-Indo-European *greb- (“hook”), *gremb- (“crooked, uneven”), from *ger- (“to turn, bend, twist”). Cognate with Middle Dutch krappe (“hook”), Old High German krapfo (“hook”) (whence German Krapfen (“Berliner doughnut”). Doublet of grappa. More at cramp.

mountain grape

Vitis rupestris; Berberis aquifolium, syn. Mahonia aquifolium

possum grape

Vitis vulpina; Vitis baileyana; Cissus spp.

racoon grape

Vitis labrusca et al.; Ampelopsis cordata

I was horrified to see three grapes standing by the aircraft with the hose still connected.

1998, Approach, volume 43, number 10, page 10:

(US, naval slang) A purple-shirted technician responsible for refueling aircraft.


brick

en-noun

brick (countable and uncountable, plural bricks)

⇒ Welsh: brics

From Late Middle English brik, bryke, bricke, from Middle Low German and Middle Dutch bricke ("cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch brik), ultimately related to Proto-West Germanic *brekan (“to break”), whence also Old French briche and French brique (“brick”). Compare also German Low German Brickje (“small board, tray”). Related to break.

gloss

"cracked or broken brick; tile-stone"; modern Dutch <i class="Latn mention" lang="nl">brik</i>

cog

I was on deck watching the firing, and looking at the direction in which our guns were pointing, it was obvious that it was not going to be Centurion who was going to receive our bricks.

2019, Daniel Knowles, HMS Hood: Pride of the Royal Navy:


comb

en-verb

comb (third-person singular simple present combs, present participle combing, simple past and past participle combed)

combs (present singular third-person)
combing (participle present)
combed (participle past)
combed (past)

From Middle English comb, from Old English camb (“comb”), from Proto-West Germanic *kamb, from Proto-Germanic *kambaz (“comb”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵómbʰos (“tooth”), a doublet of cam. The verb is derived from the noun and displaced the older verb kemb.
Cognates
Compare Saterland Frisian Koum, Swedish/Dutch kam, Norwegian kam, German Kamm); also Tocharian B keme, Lithuanian žam̃bas (“sharp edge”), Old Church Slavonic зѫбъ (zǫbŭ), Albanian dhëmb, Ancient Greek γομφίος (gomphíos, “backtooth, molar”), Sanskrit जम्भ (jambha)).

cog

The aircraft split up so as to attack from different, preselected bearings, thus confusing the gunners and making it difficult for the ship to comb torpedo tracks.

2010, Jim Crossley, Bismarck: The Epic Chase:

Sixteen torpedo bombers divided their attention between the two ships. Repulse combed the torpedo wakes and knocked down two of the attackers.

2013, Steve Backer, British Battlecruisers of the Second World War, page 10:

(naval, transitive) To turn a vessel parallel to (the track of) (a torpedo) so as to reduce one's size as a target.


donkey

en-noun

donkey (plural donkeys or (obsolete) donkies)

donkeys (plural)
donkies (obsolete plural)

→ Afrikaans: donkie

→ Northern Sotho: tonki

→ Tok Pisin: donki

desc

→ Urdu: ڈَنْکی (ḍaṅkī)

→ Urdu: ڈَنْکی (ḍaṅkī)

The origin is uncertain. Originally a slang term from the late eighteenth century. Perhaps from Middle English *donekie (“a miniature dun horse”), a double diminutive of Middle English don, dun, dunne (a name for a dun horse), equivalent to modern English dun (“brownish grey colour”) + -ock (diminutive suffix) + -ie (diminutive suffix). Compare Middle English donning (“a dun horse”), English dunnock. Became more common than the original term ass due to the latter's homophony and partial merger with arse (compare similar development between coney and rabbit).

inh

(naval slang, dated) A box or chest, especially a toolbox.


Jew

Jews (plural)
Jewes (archaic plural)
Joo (alternative derogatory usually)

Sranan Tongo: Dyu

From Middle English Jew, Giu, Giw, Ju, from Old French juiu, Giu, gyu, from Latin iūdaeus (“Judean (i.e. Jew)”), from Ancient Greek Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaîos), from Ἰουδά (Ioudá), Ἰούδας (Ioúdas, “Judah, Judas, Jude”) + -ιος (-ios, suffix forming adjectives), from Biblical Hebrew יְהוּדָה (y'hudá, “male given name, Yehuda; Judah, Judea”). Doublet of Yid. Displaced Old English Iūdēisċ.


Andrew

en-prop

Andrew (countable and uncountable, plural Andrews)

[ˈeᵊnˌd̠ɹ̠˔ʷʊ̈u]

[ˈænˌd̠ɹ̠ʷ˔ʊ̈u]

From Ancient Greek Ἀνδρέας (Andréas), cognate with ἀνδρεῖος (andreîos, “manly”), both from ἀνήρ (anḗr, “man”). Doublet of André, Andreas, Andrei, and Andrey.

doublet

A common British catch phrase is, "You shouldn't have joined Andrew if you couldn't take a joke."

1984, Robert Hendrickson, Salty Words, page 19:

“Me muvver always said I should a joined the Andrew.” (Royal Navy.)

2011, Johannes H. L. Bosman, The Plough & the Sword, page 257:


legend

en-noun

legend (countable and uncountable, plural legends)

From Middle English legende, from Old French legende, from Medieval Latin legenda (“a legend, story, especially the lives of the saints”), from Latin legenda (“things which ought to be read”), from lego (“I read”).

legende

any person of extraordinary accomplishment

The legend displacement on the basis then in use was 48,000 tons, the corresponding standard displacement as defined by the Washington Treaty being 47,540 tons.

1929, Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, Inc, page 304:

The legend and sketch designs were submitted to the Board on 27th March 1916 and, after examining a model and the drawings, the Sea Lords generally favoured proposal 'B'; the extra weight involved being acceptable.

1976, Alan Raven, John Roberts, British Battleships of World War Two: The Development and Technical History of the Royal Navy's Battleships and Battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946, page 63:

(naval) The design and specification of a vessel.


flight

en-noun

flight (countable and uncountable, plural flights)

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *plew-
Proto-Indo-European *plewk-der.
Proto-Germanic *fleuganą
Proto-West Germanic *fleugan
Proto-West Germanic *-þi
Proto-West Germanic *fluhti
Old English flyht
Middle English flight
English flight
From Middle English flight, from Old English flyht (“flight”), from Proto-West Germanic *fluhti (“flight”), derived from *fleuganą (“to fly”), from Proto-Indo-European *plewk- (“to fly”), enlargement of *plew- (“flow”). Analyzable as fly + -t (variant of -th).
Cognate with West Frisian flecht (“flight”), Dutch vlucht (“flight”), German Flucht (“flight”) (etymology 2).

etymon

(US, naval) A numbered subclass of a given class of warship, denoting incremental modernizations to the original design.


mast

From Middle English mast, from Old English mæst (“mast”), from Proto-West Germanic *mast, from Proto-Germanic *mastaz (“mast, sail-pole”), from Proto-Indo-European *mazdos (“pole, mast”).
Cognate with Dutch mast, German Mast, and via Indo-European with Latin mālus, Russian мост (most, “bridge”), Irish adhmad.

der

(naval) A non-judicial punishment ("NJP"); a disciplinary hearing under which a commanding officer studies and disposes of cases involving those under his command.


ky

I put on a big fanny of Ky, that is a straight-sided pot of cocoa for them returning.

2005, Patrick Halliday, Survival, page 24:

(UK, naval slang) Alternative form of kye (“cocoa”)


rub

Inherited from Middle English rubben, of unknown origin; possibly ultimately from Proto-Germanic *rubbōną, related to *reufaną (“to tear”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian rubje (“to rub, scrape”), German Low German rubben (“to rub”), Low German rubblig (“rough, uneven”), Dutch robben, rubben (“to rub smooth; scrape; scrub”), Danish rubbe (“to rub, scrub”), Icelandic and Norwegian rubba (“to scrape”).
More at reave.

растира́ние

any substance designed to be applied by rubbing


vampire

vampires (plural)
vampyre (alternative archaic)
wampyr (alternative)

desc

ভ্যাম্পায়ার

→ Bengali: ভ্যাম্পায়ার (bhêmpaẏar)

→ Irish: vaimpír

→ Japanese: ヴァンパイア (vanpaia), バンパイア (banpaia)

→ Marathi: व्हॅम्पायर (vhĕmpāyar)

→ Thai: แวมไพร์ (wɛm-paai)

→ Scottish Gaelic: bhampair

→ Swahili: vampiri

→ Turkish: vampir

→ Welsh: fampir

From French vampire, from German Vampir, via Hungarian from a Slavic word, probably Serbo-Croatian вампир (vàmpīr), proposed to be a variant of unattested *upir, from Proto-Slavic *ǫpyrь, ultimately from Proto-Turkic *ōpur (“witch, gluttonous beast”) q.v. Compare Russian упы́рь (upýrʹ), Polish upiór, Polish wąpierz, Turkish obur, Chuvash вупӑр (vup̬ăr), Kazakh обыр (obyr, “tumor, cancer”) etc. Doublet of oupire.

der

Vampire. Vampire. Vampire. Battle stations.

anti-ship missile
anti-ship missile#English

(US naval jargon) Synonym of anti-ship missile (ASM), particularly an incoming hostile one.


lurk

en-verb

lurk (third-person singular simple present lurks, present participle lurking, simple past and past participle lurked)

lurks (present singular third-person)
lurking (participle present)
lurked (participle past)
lurked (past)

From Middle English lurken, from Old Norse *lúrka, possibly from Proto-Germanic *lūrukōną (“to be lying in wait, lurk”), equivalent to lour + -k (frequentative suffix).
Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk lurka (“to sneak away, go slowly”), dialectal Swedish lurka (“to dawdle, be slow in one's work”), Saterland Frisian lüürkje (“to look secretly, spy”), West Frisian luorkje (“to lurk”), Middle Low German lûrken (“to deceitfully stalk”).

cog

As junior dogsbody, he was lurked with this mission.

2015, Andrew Gordon, The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command:

(UK, naval slang, transitive) To saddle (a person) with an undesirable task or duty.


ladder

en-verb

ladder (third-person singular simple present ladders, present participle laddering, simple past and past participle laddered)

ladders (present singular third-person)
laddering (participle present)
laddered (participle past)
laddered (past)
ledder (alternative)

From Middle English ladder, laddre, from Old English hlǣder, from Proto-West Germanic *hlaidriju, from Proto-Germanic *hlaidrijō, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱlóydʰrom, from *ḱley- (“to lean”).
Compare Scots ledder, North Frisian ladder, Saterland Frisian Laadere, West Frisian ljedder, Dutch ladder, leer, German Leiter); also Old Irish clithar (“hedge”), Umbrian 𐌊𐌋𐌄𐌈𐌓𐌀𐌌 (kleθram, “stretcher”)). See lean, which is related to lid.
Further cognates include Ashkun istrī, Kamkata-viri c̣ik, Prasuni čik, čix, Waigali c̣iř, Sanskrit श्रिति (śrití).

For eighteen minutes Revenge pounded the dockyard area at an average range of 15,700 yards, spreading for line and laddering for range to a prearranged plan to cover the whole target area.

2007, Peter Smith, Naval Warfare in the English Channel: 1939-1945, page 134:

Laddering made it possible to get a few hits on a fast-moving, often manoeuvring, target.

2014, Norman Friedman, Naval Anti-Aircraft Guns & Gunnery:

(UK, naval slang) To close in on a target with successive salvos, increasing or decreasing the shot range as necessary.


raider

(military, naval) A warship which is light, maneuverable, and fast-moving.

אֳנִיַּת שֹׁד

naval: light maneuverable and fast warship, used in raiding


snipe

From Middle English snipe, snype (a type of bird), from Old Norse snípa, as in mýrisnípa (“moor snipe”). Akin to Norwegian snipe.
The verb originated in the 1770s among soldiers in British India where a hunter skilled enough to kill the elusive snipe was dubbed a "sniper". The term sniper was first attested in 1824 in the sense of the word "sharpshooter".

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

(naval slang) A member of the engineering department on a ship.

laivamekaanikko

naval slang: member of the Engineering Department


boots

[…] he sent on the 22d. Vice-Admiral Rook into it, with several Men of War and Fire-Ships, besides the Boots of the Fleet, to endeavour to destroy them: […]

1705, The Life of William III, Late King of England, and Prince of Orange, page 334:

The captain of Hotspur was Lieutenant T. Herrick, the youngest commanding officer in all the destroyers, and says Hotspur was the “boots” of the fleet! Being the junior ship, she was given jobs no-one wanted.

2005, Frank Wade, A Midshipman's War, page 115:

(UK, naval, slang) The ship in a fleet having the most junior captain.


jalousie

/ˈd͡ʒæləsiː/

Borrowed from French jalousie. Doublet of jealousy.

(naval architecture) A component in a ventilation system.


ki

At sea a special cauldron of 'ki,' prepared by the ship's cook, is sent round action stations in 'fannies' or large pitchers.

1917, The Tea & Coffee Trade Journal, volumes 34-35, page 217:


bloke

blokes (plural)
bloak (alternative archaic)

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

Origin unknown; the following borrowings have been hypothesized:
* From a modern Celtic language, such as Irish bloc (“block”) or Scottish Gaelic ploc (“large, stubborn person”, literally “block of wood”), themselves borrowings from English block
* From Hindustani لوک (lok) / लोक (lok, “people, folk”) or Shelta loke (“man”).

bor

A second green chit and then you get your hat for a talk with the bloke.

1989, Rick Jolly, Trugg Willson, Jackspeak: The Pusser’s Rum: Guide to Royal Navy Slanguage […], Torpoint, Cornwall: Palamanando Publ., →ISBN:

(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, naval slang) (A lower deck term for) the captain or executive officer of a warship, especially one regarded as tough on discipline and punishment.


battle honours

(naval) The names of battles and actions in which a warship (or a previous namesake) has taken part, usually displayed on a board in a prominent position


kipper

From Old English cypera (“male salmon”), perhaps related to Old English coper (“reddish-brown metal”) (see copper), on resemblance of color. Another theory connects it to kip (“sharp, hooked lower jaw of the male salmon in breeding season”), from Middle English kippen (“to seize, snatch”), but OED doubts this.

inh

As she was only crawling along I aimed my first ‘kipper’ just a fraction ahead of her bows.

I evaluate its firing power at eighteen torpedoes—I think kipper is a distressing piece of naval slang—in thirty minutes.

'Fancy running the risk of getting a kipper [a torpedo] to go with his grub.'


souped-up

en-adj

souped-up (comparative more souped-up, superlative most souped-up)

more souped-up (comparative)
most souped-up (superlative)
souped (alternative)
souped up (alternative)
suped-up (alternative)

Uncertain; the fact that the earlier senses seem to be the horse racing cant and United States Navy slang ones suggests a derivation from soup (“liquid food item”), connoting a horse or a person being filled with a liquid.
Alternatively, it has been suggested that the term is a modified clipping of supe(r), with reference to an aeroplane or automobile engine being supercharged: see, for example, the 1925 quotation. This sense appears to post-date the horse-racing and navy slang senses.

If you have had any experience at all with the effect that it has upon these people when they are in situations of violence, you can understand that you cannot send these persons who are souped up on drugs to perform a delicate mission […]

1968, Melvin M. Belli, Trial and Tort Trends: Belli Seminar, page 253:

(US, naval slang) Intoxicated by alcohol or drugs.


armament

en-noun

armament (countable and uncountable, plural armaments)

From Latin armāmentum, from armō (“I arm”).

(military, naval) All the cannon and small arms collectively, with their equipments, belonging to a ship or a fortification.


Fanny Adams

sweet Fanny Adams (alternative)
sweet FA (alternative)
SFA (alternative)

From Fanny Adams (1859–1867), a young girl brutally murdered and dismembered. Tins of mutton introduced in the British navy after her death were not liked by the sailors and were humorously said to be her butchered remains. Fanny Adams then came to mean any worthless thing, and, eventually, nothing at all ("sweet F A").
Coincidentally, the initials "FA" also fit the vulgar term fuck all, also meaning "nothing at all", leading to later perception of "Fanny Adams", or "FA", being a euphemism for the latter.

The Engineer Lieutenant pushed his head inside his neighbour's cabin: “Come along—come along! You'll be late for dinner. Fresh grub to-night: no more ‘Russian Kromeskis’ and ‘Fanny Adams’!”

1916, Bartimeus [pseudonym; Sir Lewis Ritchie], Naval Occasions, and Some Traits of the Sailor-man, Edinburgh and London: William Blackwood and Sons:

(UK, naval slang, obsolete, derogatory) Tinned meat.


surge

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

der

surge capacity; surge fleet; surge deployment capabilities

(US, naval, often attributive) A deployment in large numbers at short notice.


Aurora

/ʔaʊ̯ˈɾo.ɾɐ/

Aurora (disambiguation)
Gérard de Lairesse
Manuel Quezon

Ultimately from Latin Aurōra. The Philippine placenames were named after First Lady Aurora Quezon, the wife of Pres. Manuel Quezon, the 2nd president of the Philippines.

(naval) the Russian cruiser Aurora, a cruiser of Soviet Navy.


fanny

The British naval slang sense derives from Fanny Adams. Tins of mutton introduced as rations were not liked by the sailors and were taken by them to contain the butchered remains of Fanny Adams who had been brutally murdered and dismembered. The tins were re-used for eating from and cooking with.

(UK, naval slang) Mess kettle or cooking pot.


flimsy

en-noun

flimsy (countable and uncountable, plural flimsies)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-flimsy.wav

British Army
Crusader tank
Monadhliath Mountains
North African Campaign

The origin of the adjective is uncertain; it is possibly from flim(-flam) (“(noun) false information presented as true, misinformation, nonsense; poor attempt at deception, confidence trick, pretence; (adjective) frivolous, nonsensical; deceptive; fictitious”) or a metathesis of film (“thin layer of a substance; slender thread”) + -sy (suffix forming adjectives and nouns).
The noun and verb are derived from the noun. Noun sense 4 (“metal container”) refers to the fact that the containers often split along their seams and leaked.

affix

A perusal of the comments of officers under whom he [Captain Duncan Herbert Stevens] has served as recorded in his “flimsies" indicates that he has almost consistently received high commendation for his service.

1964 August 13, John [Armstrong] Spicer, Commissioner, “Officers Principally Concerned”, in Report of Royal Commissioner on Loss of H.M.A.S. “Voyager” (Papers Presented to Parliament; XIII), Canberra, A.C.T: [F]or the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia by A. J. Arthur, Commonwealth Government printer, →OCLC, page 3:

Regulations required a commanding officer to render annual confidential reports on the character and ability of his officers – with particular reference to sobriety – on forms known as ‘flimsies’.

1994, John Wells, “The Community of the Mid-Victorian Navy”, in The Royal Navy: An Illustrated Social History 1870–1982, Stroud, Gloucestershire; Dover, N.H.: Alan Sutton Publishing in association with the Royal Naval Museum, Portsmouth, →ISBN, page 7:

(by extension) A document printed or typed on such paper.

(naval slang, countable) A service certificate.


line of battle

(naval) The line or arrangement formed by vessels of war in an engagement.


radarman

(US, naval) A person who operates all navigational and communications systems.


Old Dart

Possibly from the river Dart in Devonshire which enters the sea at Dartmouth, location of a Royal Navy College. Royal Navy officers who were returning to England at the end of a foreign tour of duty referred to going back to the "Old Dart" for further training.
Alternatively a variation of "old dirt" (compare old sod).

(colloquial, UK, naval) Dartmouth Royal Navy College.


drip

en-verb

drip (third-person singular simple present drips, present participle dripping, simple past and past participle dripped)

drips (present singular third-person)
dripping (participle present)
dripped (participle past)
dripped (past)

From Middle English drippen, druppen, from Old English drypan, from Proto-Germanic *drupjaną (“to fall in drops, drip”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop”). Akin to West Frisian drippe (“to drip”),
Dutch druipen, druppelen (“to drip”), German Low German drüppen (“to drip”), German tropfen, tröpfeln (“to drip”), Norwegian Bokmål dryppe, Norwegian Nynorsk drypa (“to drip”).

inh

The Women's Royal Naval Service was integrated with the Royal Navy in November 1993. […] Men interviewed by Public Eye (April, 1994) said they should 'stop dripping about it' and that women should learn to 'take it like a man […]

1995, Sue Innes, Making it work: women, change and challenge in the 1990s, page 21:

The government had been slowly running down the Royal Navy Organisation to save money on various peoples' budgets, so now we had to sub-contract ships to go to war! So stop dripping and "make it so", all those admirals can't be wrong!

2012, I. H. Milburn, Falklands War - Get STUFT:

(UK, naval slang, intransitive) To whine or complain consistently; to grumble.


goffer

(UK, naval slang) soft drink; non-alcoholic drink


divisions

At the Britannia Royal Naval College, the Lord High Admiral's Divisions is a parade held in the presence of the monarch or her representative.

(UK, naval) A formal parade of a ship's or shore establishment's company.


miller

From Middle English myllere, mellere, from earlier mylnere, possibly from an Old English *mylnere, from Proto-West Germanic *mulīnārī (“miller”), equivalent to mill + -er; cf. also Late Latin molīnārius (“miller”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Muller, Dutch mulder, molenaar, German Low German Möller, German Müller, Müllner, Danish møller, Norwegian Bokmål møller, Norwegian Nynorsk mylnar, møllar, Swedish mjölnare, Icelandic mylnari.
Compare also Middle English milward, mulward (“miller”), from Old English mylenweard (“miller”, literally “mill-keeper”) (> English Millward (surname)).

m+

every miller draws water to his own mill


dhobying

From Hindi [script needed] (dhobi, “washerman”) + -ing.

der

(British, naval) The washing of clothes; laundry


coxswain

coxswains (plural)
cockswain (alternative)

From Middle English cokswain; equivalent to cock (“a boat”) + swain (“boy, servant”); hence “the master of a boat”.

compound

Canadian Navy Coxswain (or Capitaine d'Armes) is the senior non-commissioned officer aboard a ship

British Royal Navy Cadets Cadet Coxswain is the highest normal rank which may be achieved.


kye

[…] wrapped in layers of warm clothing against rushing icy air, and all longing for bubbling hot kye (Navy cocoa) at midnight.

2009, John Roberts, Safeguarding the Nation: The Story of the Modern Royal Navy:

Then he walked back to the wheelhouse. Guido arrived with three cups of kye and a plate of hot buttered toast.

2013, David Arnold, Hursey in Conflict: A Story of Love and Victory, page 73:


banyan

banyans (plural)
banian (alternative)
bannian (alternative)

From Portuguese baniano, from Arabic بَنِيَان (baniyān), from Gujarati વાણિયો (vāṇiyo, “merchant”), from Sanskrit वाणिज (vāṇijá), from earlier वणिज् (vaṇíj, “merchant, trader”). The name appears to have been first bestowed popularly on a famous tree of this species growing near Bandar Abbas, under which the Bannians, or Hindu traders settled at that port, had built a little pagoda. Doublet of bunnia.

Banyan in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

(British, naval slang, dated) A camping excursion on shore, to give a ship's crew a break from shipboard routine.


A-gang

(US, naval slang) Auxiliary division onboard a ship or submarine. Responsible for sanitary, heating/AC, emergency diesels, hydraulics, high pressure air, low pressure air, oxygen generating equipment, potable water, hatch maintenance, and assorted systems.


bluenose

That summer the Clipper detoured north on its way to Norway so that cadets could be initiated as bluenoses. She passed between the Shetland and Orkney islands on her way to cross the Arctic Circle at Greenwich.

2005, Stephen J. Curley, Aggies By The Sea: Texas A & M University At Galveston, page 213:

(US, naval slang) A person who has crossed the Arctic Circle.


skimmer

(naval) A sailor in the surface forces, as opposed to a submariner.


FORACS

The USN originally operated five FORACS ranges at Barking Sands, Hawaii, San Clemente Island, California, Fisher's Island, New York, Andros Island, Bahamas and St Croix, US Virgin Islands.

(US, military, naval) Acronym of Fleet Operational Readiness Accuracy Check Site: a facility for measuring the bearing and range accuracy of sensor systems on ships, submarines, and aircraft.


call the ball

en-verb

call the ball (third-person singular simple present calls the ball, present participle calling the ball, simple past and past participle called the ball)

calls the ball (present singular third-person)
calling the ball (participle present)
called the ball (participle past)
called the ball (past)

- Maverick, call the ball.

(US naval aviation) When landing on a US aircraft carrier: to sight the lights from the multi-colored optical landing system that shows a pilot to be on the correct approach path or how to correct the approach path.


weather gauge

(obsolete, naval) An advantageous position of one sailing vessel with respect to another, because of the direction of the prevailing wind, that allows it to maneuver for an attack etc.


very well

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-very well.wav

Conning officer: "Rudder amidships."

Helmsman: "Rudder amidships aye! Rudder now amidships."

Conning officer: "Very well."

(naval) A standard response by a superior to a report or confirmation.


sailmaker

From Middle English *sayl-makere, equivalent to sail + maker. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sailmoaker, West Frisian seilmakker, Dutch zeilmaker, German Low German Seilmaker, German Segelmacher, Danish sejlmager, Swedish segelmakare.

(US, naval) An officer in the United States navy who takes charge of the sails.


sand crab

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


kiss the gunner's daughter

kiss the gunner's daughter (third-person singular simple present kisses the gunner's daughter, present participle kissing the gunner's daughter, simple past and past participle kissed the gunner's daughter)

kisses the gunner's daughter (present singular third-person)
kissing the gunner's daughter (participle present)
kissed the gunner's daughter (participle past)
kissed the gunner's daughter (past)

But I was punished, my lad—made to kiss the wench that never speaks but when she scolds, and that's the gunner's daughter, comrade.

1824, Sir Walter Scott, chapter 14, in Redgauntlet:

"No," replied Bosun Thorpe, "for any breaches of discipline by boy seamen are dealt within by making him, in naval jargon, ‘kiss the gunner's daughter’. . . . he bends over one of the guns; then he is lashed across the backside."

2002, Wallace Bruce, John Paul Jones: Father of the United States Navy, →ISBN, page 81:

(archaic, idiomatic, naval) To be flogged or beaten while restrained over a cannon.


stone frigate

(UK, naval slang) A shore establishment of the Royal Navy and some Commonwealth navies.


killock

killocks (plural)
kelleg (alternative)
killick (alternative)

Unabashed, the Killock tilted his head to one side in mock examination, puckering his bulbous nose.

2005, Bill Hawkins, The Other Cockleshell Heroes, page 32:

(naval slang) A leading seaman, who wears a badge with an anchor emblem.


COW

en-noun

COW (countable and uncountable, plural COWs)

(naval, uncountable) Acronym of chief of watch.


raggie

He is concerned for his pal, his raggie, […]

1918, Edward Noble, The Naval Side, page 54:

Able-seaman Jenvey, his "raggie" Lofty Smith and Venus the honey-bear were ensconced in their usual billet under the fo'c'sle awning of His Majesty's cruiser Empire enjoying the peace of a make-and-mend afternoon.

1943, Gilbert Hackforth-Jones, Torpedo!: Stories of the Royal Navy, page 100:

(UK, naval slang, dated) A close friend; chum.


langrel

The “Virgen del Pilar” was within five hundred yards of the harbour's mouth, when six sakers, charged now with langrel, chain and cross-bar, swept her decks with murderous effect and some damage to her shrouds.

1931, Rafael Sabatini, “The Chronicles Of Captain Blood”, in [aka Captain Blood Returns], published 2008, page 80:

Langrel shot was also intended to damage the enemy's rigging.

1987, Brian Lavery, The Arming and Fitting of English Ships of War, 1600-1815, page 137:

“And ready the langrel shot,” he yelled to Smithy.
Isabel turned to Cutter, fear sparking within her. “What is langrel?” “A type of cannon shot meant to damage sails and masts. Never fear, milady. He means only to cripple them.”

2014, MaryLu Tyndall, Legacy of the King's Pirates 3: The Restitution, unnumbered page:

(military, naval, obsolete or historical) Langrage (scraps of metal used to fire at an enemy).


salt horse

salt horse (countable and uncountable, plural salt horses)

From the fact that horse meat was considered especially unappetizing and rarely eaten, but that the meat had been so heavily salted and dried that it could just be horse meat passed off as beef.

(countable, UK, naval) A naval officer or rating whose training and experience have qualified him as a seaman rather than in any specialised trade.


Chats

I think it is a libel, for I have yet to learn that West Country sailor-men are fonder of their victuals than those from 'Pompey' (Portsmouth), or 'Chats' (Chatham), or than Scotsmen, Irishmen, or Welshmen.

1918, Chambers's Journal, volume 95, page 393:

He leaned half his body out of the carriage window as we slowly pulled over the timber baulks of the rebuilt bridges, and shouted 'Up the workers!' until a Petty Officer in the next compartment also leaned out and told him, 'Shit in it, you bloody Bolshie, or I'll have your cap as soon as we get to Chats.'
[…] Once inside the prison-like walls of Chatham barracks we were all marched into the drafting office […]

1997, Tristan Jones, Heart of Oak, page 132:


saddletank

saddletanks (plural)
saddle tank (alternative)

(naval architecture) An early style of ballast tank submarine in which the tank sits on top like a saddle.


gundeck

en-verb

gundeck (third-person singular simple present gundecks, present participle gundecking, simple past and past participle gundecked)

gundecks (present singular third-person)
gundecking (participle present)
gundecked (participle past)
gundecked (past)

(naval slang) Synonym of pencil whip (“to falsify records to suggest that work has been done”)


JG

JGs (plural)
J.G. (alternative)
J. G. (alternative)
jg (alternative)
j.g. (alternative)
j. g. (alternative)

lieutenant junior grade
lieutenant junior grade


isodrome

(naval) A method of moving a fleet from one formation to another, the direction usually being changed eight points, by means of paths of equal length for each ship.


water tender

(US, naval, historical) A first-class petty officer in charge in a fireroom, who supplies the boilers with water, sees that fires are properly cleaned and stoked, etc.


strike one's flag

strike one's flag (third-person singular simple present strikes one's flag, present participle striking one's flag, simple past struck one's flag, past participle struck one's flag or stricken one's flag)

strikes one's flag (present singular third-person)
striking one's flag (participle present)
struck one's flag (past)
struck one's flag (participle past)
stricken one's flag (participle past)
strike one's colors (alternative)
strike the colors (alternative)
strike the flag (alternative)

At length, having lost her fore and main-top-masts, and her mizzen-mast having been shot away to the deck, . . . the English frigate was reduced to the last extremity. Captain Cardan ordered his signal quarter-master to strike the flag.

1850, Herman Melville, chapter 74, in White Jacket:

An Austro-Prussian army of 120.000 men . . . is of itself so imposing a spectacle that one is tempted to believe the little Kingdom of Denmark will strike its flag without firing a shot.

1864 February 7, “Very Latest Per Edinburgh”, in New York Times, retrieved 2015-07-02:

The enemy having yielded to our mercy and struck their flag, we ceased our fire, and thinking the worst over and done, I watched where Belvedere conned the ship with voice and gesture.

1921, Jeffery Farnol, chapter 12, in Martin Conisby's Vengeance:

(military, especially naval) To take down one's national or other representative flag in order to indicate surrender.

baisser pavillon

to take down one's flag to indicate surrender


Dart

(UK, naval slang) An officer trained at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, England.


suck the monkey

suck the monkey (third-person singular simple present sucks the monkey, present participle sucking the monkey, simple past and past participle sucked the monkey)

sucks the monkey (present singular third-person)
sucking the monkey (participle present)
sucked the monkey (participle past)
sucked the monkey (past)

A new farce, called "The Wigwam," was produced at the Lyceum Theatre on Monday night. [...] As might naturally be expected, Cora has another lover, one Mingo (Mr. Oxberry), known as the "Monkey's Uncle," from his habit of "sucking the monkey."

1847 January 31, “Lyceum Theatre”, in The Observer, London: William [Innell] Clement, →OCLC, page 5, column 3:

(naval slang) To surreptitiously drink alcohol from a cask through an inserted tube.


comshaw

en-noun

comshaw (countable and uncountable, plural comshaws)

From Hokkien 感謝 /感谢 (kám-siā, “thanks”).

The practice was so common it was no longer considered stealing. It was comshaw. That kind of thinking made the Iran/Contra arms scandal and Watergate okay at the time. It's comshaw when you do it, but it's stealing when you get caught; it's politics when you do it, but it's illegal when you're found out.

1990, Jay Carty, Something's Fishy: Getting Rid of the Carp in Your Life, →ISBN, page 145:

Mostly by way of "comshaw," a sailor's term for bartering, but it was usually a coffee grounds deal at LBNS.

2002, Ed Goodrich, Riggers that dive, page 53:

I was able to accomplish these comshaw and midnight small stories because my crew and I knew what we needed! If there were items, which our ship required, left abandoned anywhere, those items were ours. Perhaps the thing that made our activities to recover beached small boats or the comshaw of items from the navy supply depot so easy was the fact that my entire salvage crew was with me on this LST.

2013, James Carl Duncan, Adventures of a Tennessean, →ISBN, page 125:

What a day! Started off with early comshaw run to 2/5—got 2 jackets, 1 boots. Gave 1 jacket to SSgt. Lelansky.

2017, Jean Shellenbarger, The 9th Engineer Battalion, First Marine Division, in Vietnam, →ISBN, page 35:

(naval slang) The practice of pilfering or bartering for surplus items.


comshaw

en-verb

comshaw (third-person singular simple present comshaws, present participle comshawing, simple past and past participle comshawed)

comshaws (present singular third-person)
comshawing (participle present)
comshawed (participle past)
comshawed (past)

Chips in Las Vegas are as negotiable as green money. You can take them into any club and cash them in for money, for $5 or $10 or whatever it is. So all you've got to do is put a chip in the end of your fingers, turn your hand down like you're trying to touch your wrist, and you can comshaw — or steal — comshaw is a much better word — a $25 chip from a table.

1972, Bruce Jackson, In the life: versions of the criminal experience, page 124:

As soon as she was recommissioned Com7thFleet had comshawed her for his flagship.

2000, Richard Winston, The Gundeckers: A Description of the Michigamme Mutiny, →ISBN, page 99:

He was able to "comshaw" (as they say in the US Navy) the cable from the German engineers at a nearby dam.

2008, Janice Minott, Letters from Kabul 1966-1968: A Memoir, →ISBN, page 119:

Oh, yes, did I mention I comshawed (somewhere between “borrowed” and “stole”) a large map of the US. and plotted my way home?

2013, Dorien Grey, A World Ago: A Navy Man's Letters Home (1954-1956), →ISBN, page 206:

His anger is somewhat satiated by the presence of an amazing arsenal of Special Operations weapons he has managed to beg, borrow and otherwise comshaw.

2014, C. Edward Samuels, Blood & Roses, →ISBN, page 350:

(naval slang) To acquire without officially requisitioning; to pilfer or barter for surplus items.


peggy

Against this, her deck staff runs to about a hundred, being made up of some fifty able-seamen, eight or ten 'peggies' […]

1936, Charles Richard Benstead, Atlantic Ferry, page 178:

The number of "peggies" going aft to fetch the meals had been increasing steadily.

1955, Willi Frischauer, Robert Jackson, The Altmark affair, page 177:

(UK, naval slang) The petty officers' mess steward.


iswas

From is + was, i.e. for calculating where the target will be based on where it is and was.

(military, historical, naval slang) A kind of hand-held slide rule used for predicting the location of a target based on its current and recent positions.


tin fish

(UK, naval slang) Alternative form of tinfish (“torpedo”)


do a never

do a never (third-person singular simple present does a never, present participle doing a never, simple past did a never, past participle done a never)

does a never (present singular third-person)
doing a never (participle present)
did a never (past)
done a never (participle past)

The Chief Buffer has got a howl on now because he got a blast from Torps, as so many of the part of ship hands were doing a never on the messdecks instead of working the main derrick.

1943, Robert Burgess, Roland Blackburn, We Joined the Navy:

(UK, naval, slang, dated) To mess about; to idle instead of working.


Jack Shalloo

A fine lad, though maybe a bit of a Jack Shalloo with the great talk.

1932, Myrtle Johnston, The Maiden, page 194:

Huh! He has just saved his ticket then. Knew to the minute, he did, when she was to cast off — asked me yesterday, he did. What the mischief does he mean by this Jack Shalloo trick? And at a time like this!

1910, The Idler: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine, volume 38, page 172:

(dated, naval slang) A careless or happy-go-lucky man.


Jack Strop

'So as not to have jack strops like you, Butcher boy,' Adams said. 'If some cowson Jerry battlewaggon's coming at me, I'd sooner someone who knew his job were at the helm, and I tell you that straight.'

1986, Alan Ross, Blindfold Games, page 211:

They were probably surprised that Jack had etiquette at all, but despite the skates and Jack Strops and their various highly dubious shore activities, when on board, Jack had enormous pride and respect for RN tradition.

2011, Rick Jolly, Jackspeak: A Guide to British Naval Slang & Usage, page 259:

(UK, naval slang) A conceited, argumentative or swaggering sailor.


Hollywood shower

en-noun

Hollywood shower (plural Hollywood showers)

(naval slang) A long, luxurious shower, as opposed to a "navy shower".


rope and choke

(US, naval slang) The measurement of a person's body fat, by means of a measuring tape around parts of the body, to determine whether they meet physical fitness standards for service.


lee gauge

lee-gage (alternative)
lee gage (alternative)

The ship, or fleet, with the lee-gage could not attack ; if it did not wish to retreat, its action was confined to the defensive, and to receiving battle on the enemy’s terms.

1890, Alfred Thayer Mahan, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783, page 6:

In 1694, the 40-gun ship “Scarborough” was captured off Tory Island in very much the same manner as the “Anglesea,” that is, by the enemy taking the lee gauge ; and going back still further, the printed accounts of the Four Days’ Fight, in June, 1666, all dwell on the disadvantage which we were at by being to windward of the enemy.

1896, J.K. Laughton, “The study of naval history”, in Journal of the Royal United Service Institution, Whitehall Yard, page 804:

(obsolete, naval) The position of a sailing vessel leeward of another in battle, often restricting manoeuvrability and gunnery.


purser's crabs

(UK, naval slang) Boots issued by the navy.


Guzz

Uncertain; there are various speculative theories. See HMNB Devonport § Nickname on Wikipedia.Wikipedia


bean rag

(naval slang) A pennant displayed on a ship at mealtimes.


dhobi dust

(UK, naval slang) Laundry detergent in powder form.


flog the clock

en-verb

flog the clock (third-person singular simple present flogs the clock, present participle flogging the clock, simple past and past participle flogged the clock)

flogs the clock (present singular third-person)
flogging the clock (participle present)
flogged the clock (participle past)
flogged the clock (past)

I recall that I was in the second mate's watch when he accused me of flogging the clock. He did not see me put it forward but obviously he knew the ways of boys.

1956, New South Wales. Parliament, Parliamentary Debates, page 1449:

On one trip three lads on night watch all had the same idea, and when the skipper went up to the wheelhouse the following morning he was spitting mad, wanting to know who'd flogged the clock a half-hour forward.

2011, Jimmy Buchan, Trawlerman: Life at the Helm of the Toughest Job in Britain:

(naval slang) To set the clock forward in order to shorten one's time on watch.


cake and wine

After a week of privation on pound cake and white wine (strangely the Navy's slang for solitary confinement on bread and water was "cake and wine") Carlsen received warm nourishment.

1980, The Compass, volumes 50-52, page 26:

If one was 5 minutes late he got three days bread and water for a first offense. A second time got the culprit 5 days. Insolence and/or insubordination earned one a deck court-martial with 10 days on "cake and wine".

2009, Chester A. Wright, Black Men and Blue Water, page 222:

[…] and the skipper threw him in the brig for five days on cake and wine (bread and water, in navy slang).

2011, Stephen Curley, The Ship That Would Not Die:

(US, naval slang) A restricted diet of bread and water, imposed as a disciplinary measure.


Captain's Cloak

“Growl you may, but go you must,” Lewrie laughed, clapping him on the shoulder in parting. “Old Navy proverb. Might be the Thirty-Seventh Article of War, hey, right after 'The Captain's Cloak'?”

Pigot then opened a copy of the Articles of War, and started reading from number thirty-six (the so-called 'Captain's Cloak') which covered 'All other crimes not capital […]

(colloquial, UK, naval, historical) The 36th and last of the Articles of War, effectively giving the ship's captain free rein in disciplining the crew: "All other crimes not capital committed by any person or persons in the fleet, which are not mentioned in this act, or for which no punishment is hereby directed to be inflicted, shall be punished by the laws and customs in such cases used at sea."


Charlie Noble

Uncertain; said to allude to an officer or captain of this name who insisted on having the funnel polished.

One of the last customs that passed from the decks of the modern navy was the “shooting of Charlie Noble.” The chimney or galley-stack of the ship's kitchen was dignified by the name of Charlie Noble, and when the galley-stack became clogged with soot the ship's cook fired a blank cartridge up it, loosening the soot.

1917, Orton Porter Jackson, Frank Edgar Evans, The Marvel Book of American Ships, page 357:

Charlie Nobles should be fitted with cowls which will automatically turn to leeward and thereby force the draught. A Charlie Noble should be demountable and the hole through the cabin roof should be covered by a strong, tight-fitting lid.

1945, Harold Augustin Calahan, Learning to Cruise, page 120:

(naval slang) A funnel for discharging smoke from the galley.


bleed the monkey

bleed the monkey (third-person singular simple present bleeds the monkey, present participle bleeding the monkey, simple past and past participle bled the monkey)

bleeds the monkey (present singular third-person)
bleeding the monkey (participle present)
bled the monkey (participle past)
bled the monkey (past)

He invented the 'monkey fist' — a knot which gives weight to a heaving line; the union plate he called a 'monkey face' and, in times of merrymaking, he frequently 'bled the monkey' to get his grog.

1969, Lookout: Annual report issue, volumes 60-62:

(naval slang) Synonym of suck the monkey (“to surreptitiously drink alcohol from a cask through an inserted tube”)


barrack stanchion

en-noun

barrack stanchion (plural barrack stanchions)

(naval slang) A sailor who remains on land for a long time, not taking any sea voyage.


manhaul

manhaul (countable and uncountable, plural manhauls)

manhauls (plural)
man-haul (alternative)

During his years at SRF, Kooch never missed the manhauls (meals) at 1100 and 1600. […] Through the years as his hearing got bad, Kooch would not hear the Whistle. Since then, manhauls were delayed until he was found and ushered aboard.

1998, Dirk Anthony Ballendorf, editor, U.S. Naval Ship Repair Facility: Guam History Book: 1945 to 1997, United States Department of Defense, page 54:


stewardsman

(US, naval, dated) A steward's mate, or mess attendant.


Rose Cottage

From a stereotypical name for a person's home with roses growing around it, but here ironically referring to the red colour of sores or bleeding.

(naval slang) An isolation ward for treating venereal disease in sailors when ashore.


requestman

After the ME had made a very convincing case for going on leave Sohail asked his divisional Chief ERA, who was standing behind and to the right of the requestman, “Well, Chief. What do you say?”

2001, Mian Zahir Shah, Bubbles of Water, Or, Anecdotes of the Pakistan Navy, page 224:

If this was considered inadequate, the case went before the captain, who heard 'requestmen and defaulters' at a fixed time. Requestmen might ask for promotion, for special leave or some other privilege.

2017, Brian Lavery, Churchill's Navy: The Ships, People and Organisation, 1939-1945:

(naval) One who submits a formal request.


bare navy

"Three weeks we had been at sea on bare Navy, when we dropped anchor off Porthaven," said Long Jim. "Bare Navy, you understand, is regulation rations and nothing else, the canteen having run dry; […]

1914, Leslie Cope Cornford, Echoes from the Fleet, page 62:

A tragic memory of Edwardian times, when butter or even margarine was a luxury in the Navy. Living on bare Navy symbolized having to exist on the coarse fare supplied by the Service.

1946, Edwin Radford, Unusual Words and how They Came About, page 15:

Far too often, indeed, it was a case of 'bare Navy', the maritime equivalent to the soldier's 'hard-tack'; […]

1959, Reginald Hargreaves, The Narrow Seas, page 296:

(UK, naval slang) The situation where available food is limited to basic service rations.


Flemish account

Flemish account (plural Flemish accounts)

(naval, slang, obsolete) A tangled and unsatisfactory account or reckoning.


rogue's yarn

(naval, historical, slang) A thread of red, blue or gold worsted, worked into the ropes manufactured in the government Royal dockyards, to identify them if stolen. Red for Pompey (Portsmouth), Blue for Guz (Plymouth), Gold for Chatham. Also a blue thread worked into canvas for the same purpose.


bundleman

From bundle + -man, from the idea of their taking a bundle of possessions ashore when visiting their spouse.

(naval slang, historical) A married member of the navy.


meritorious mast

meritorious mast (plural meritorious masts)

(naval) A modern version of the mast (naval disciplinary hearing) in which the commanding officer singles out a crewmember for formal discipline.


Rocks and Shoals

From the language of Article 4, Section 10, which prescribed the death penalty for "any person in the naval service...[who] intentionally or willfully suffers any vessel of the Navy to be stranded, or run upon rocks or shoals".

(US, naval, informal, historical) The Articles for the Government of the United States Navy.


all standing

[…] and then with a terrific crash the ship brought up all standing, and we were hurled against the bridge screens by the force of the collision.

2008, Robert C. Stem, Destroyer Battles: Epics of Naval Close Combat:

A couple of girls were standing alongside an ambulance drawn up next to the lorry, out of which they had apparently just crawled, having slept all standing, as all had I suppose.

1917, Edward Percy Stebbing, At the Serbian Front in Macedonia, page 77:

No man had aught to cover him save his blankets, in which he slept “all standing,” i.e., with his clothes on.

1925, Fitzhugh Green, Our Naval Heritage, page 106:

(UK, naval) Wearing one's clothes, for example while sleeping.


mess trap

(naval) Synonym of mess kit (“set of eating utensils”)


Perisher

A pun on periscope and perish, in allusion to the supposedly low pass rate.

(UK, naval, slang) The Submarine Command Course.


Sea Lord

The legend and sketch designs were submitted to the Board on 27th March 1916 and, after examining a model and the drawings, the Sea Lords generally favoured proposal 'B'; the extra weight involved being acceptable.

1976, Alan Raven, John Roberts, British Battleships of World War Two: The Development and Technical History of the Royal Navy's Battleships and Battlecruisers from 1911 to 1946, page 63:

(UK, naval, historical) Any member of the British Board of Admiralty who is also a serving admiral in the navy.


browning shot

See brown (“mass of birds or animals in hunting”).

[…] the U-boat would ordinarily be able to have only a "browning shot" (a random shot in the hope of hitting one ship in the convoy), which might or might not hit.

2014, Arthur J. Marder, From the Dreadnought to Scapa Flow, volume IV, page 132:

(naval) A haphazard shot at a group of vessels.


swallow the anchor

en-verb

swallow the anchor (third-person singular simple present swallows the anchor, present participle swallowing the anchor, simple past and past participle swallowed the anchor)

swallows the anchor (present singular third-person)
swallowing the anchor (participle present)
swallowed the anchor (participle past)
swallowed the anchor (past)

My grand pa was the carpenter on his ship, but had a few years before swallowed the anchor and stepped on land to repair boats.

2008, Scott Telek, The Ghost Ship, page 184:


Crazy Ivan

(naval, slang) A hard turn in a submarine to clear the baffles and get into position to attack any followers.


angles and dangles

(naval, slang) A random series of loops, turns, and depth changes in a submarine, intended to eliminate the self-noise which could occur during a baffle-clearing event.


rassing

(naval slang) The transfer of fuel, munitions, or stores from one vessel to another while under way.

(naval slang) Acquiring something dishonestly; scrounging or filching.


paybob

A form book about as helpful as the old Greek oracles is thus produced and guides the odds given by the numerous illegal bookmakers who compete with the tote run by the paybobs on each ship.

1979, W. B. Harvey, Downstairs in the Royal Navy, page 60:

Sod all the Shipwrights and CPO Cooks,
Sod all the Paybobs and their bleeding books
For we're saying goodbye to them all
As back to their hammocks they crawl.

2015, Cyril Tawney, Grey Funnel Lines, page 141:


in the rattle

If you were in the rattle too often, you would be labeled a troublemaker. Once that happened, it was virtually impossible to get back into the Navy's good books, and the chances were high that they would find some way to get rid of you.

2005, Charles Gidley Wheeler, Jannaway's Mutiny:

(UK, naval, slang) Kept in confinement as a disciplinary measure.


Shitty Kitty

(US, naval slang, historical, vulgar) USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63)


gunhouse

(naval) The rotating part of a gun turret seen above deck.


black shoe

Coordinate term: brown shoe

Hayward served aboard the aircraft carrier USS Antietam (CV-36) as a “black shoe” engineer until he entered flight training at Pensacola, Florida, […]

2016, James E. Wise, Jr., Scott Baron, At the Helm of USS America, page 57:

Towers attributed the whole catastrophe to the decision to put the carriers under the command of a black shoe like Kinkaid. As a result of that, he said, the United States was now without a single fully operational aircraft carrier in the whole of the Pacific Ocean.

2022, Craig L. Symonds, Nimitz at War: Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay, page 189:

(US, naval) A person who works on an aircraft carrier but is not involved in flights.


brown shoe

Coordinate term: black shoe

Halsey was also a “brown shoe,” a naval aviator, who was outgoing, bold, and sometimes maybe even a little too daring.

2004, W. Brad Johnson, Gregory P. Harper, Becoming a Leader the Annapolis Way, page 21:


make one's number

make one's number (third-person singular simple present makes one's number, present participle making one's number, simple past and past participle made one's number)

makes one's number (present singular third-person)
making one's number (participle present)
made one's number (participle past)
made one's number (past)

Dave Shaw had given me good advice. 'Make your number with the purser,' he had said. 'He's a kind of super marine hotel manager who can wave a magic wand and get you almost anything you ask for.'

1972, Stephen Seamus Kerry, Ship's Doctor, page 49:

(naval) To report one's arrival and begin one's duties.


Andrew Miller

Sometimes said to originate from the name of an 18th-century Lieutenant named Andrew Millar, famed for impressing many people into naval service; however, there is no evidence such a person existed.

He wont do for Andrew Millar, for he's mair like unto a cuckoo clock-maker than a Jack tar.

1826, Matthew Henry Barker, Greenwich hospital, page 2:

Since those days I have met scores of men who have deserted from Her Majesty's Army and Navy, and every one of them, without exception, curses the day he left the service, or, as the seamen term it, ‘Andrew Miller’.

1906, W. H. Blake, The Adventures of a Naval Chief Gunner, page 5:

I'm not a flight sergeant, we don't have 'em in the Andrew Miller.

1984, Kenneth Poolman, Chanter R.N., page 151:

(chiefly UK, naval slang) The Royal Navy; service in the Navy.


Andrew Miller

Andrew Millers (plural)
Andrew Millar (alternative)

And what did you know, you bumpkin! before you came on board this Andrew Miller?

1850, Herman Melville, chapter IV, in White-Jacket, published 1850, page 24:

(chiefly UK, naval slang, obsolete) A warship.


Big E

(US, naval slang, historical) USS Enterprise (CV-6)

(US, naval slang, historical) USS Enterprise (CVN-65)


fly baker

fly baker (third-person singular simple present flies baker, present participle flying baker, simple past flew baker, past participle flown baker)

flies baker (present singular third-person)
flying baker (participle present)
flew baker (past)
flown baker (participle past)

A reference to a red danger flag used in an early phonetic alphabet.


Andrew Millar

(chiefly UK, naval slang) Alternative form of Andrew Miller (“the navy”)