bottom

The Sailor's Word-Book

A name for rich low land formed by alluvial deposits: but in a general sense it denotes the lowest part of a thing, in contradistinction to the top or uppermost part. In navigation, it is used to denote as well the channel of rivers and harbours as the body or hull of a ship. Thus, in the former sense we say "a gravelly bottom, clayey bottom," &c., and in the latter sense "a British bottom, a Dutch bottom," &c. By statute, certain commodities imported in foreign bottoms pay a duty called "petty customs," over and above what they are liable to if imported in British bottoms. Bottom of a ship or boat is that part which is below the wales.

Related Words

Bottom
·noun The fundament; the buttocks. II. Bottom ·noun An <<Abyss>>. III. Bottom ·noun Dregs or groun...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
bottom
A polite term for the posteriors. Also, in the sporting sense, strength and spirits to support fatig...

Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
bottom
I. n. in gold-mining, the old river-bedupon which the wash-dirt rests, and upon which the richesta...

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
bottom
Low land with a rich soil formed by alluvial deposits, and formerly the bottom or bed of a stream or...

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
Bottom fermentation
·add. ·- A slow alcoholic fermentation during which the yeast cells collect at the bottom of the fer...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
Sulphur-bottom
·noun A very large whalebone whale of the genus Sibbaldius, having a yellowish belly; especially, S....

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
bottom-lands
In the Western States, this name is given to the rich flat land on the banks of rivers, which in New...

Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
bottom-clean
Thoroughly clean, free from weeds, &c. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
bottom-plank
That which is placed between the garboard-strake and lower back-strake. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
bottom-wind
A phenomenon that occurs on the lakes in the north of England, especially Derwent Water, which is of...

The Sailor's Word-Book
foul bottom
A ship to which sea-weed, shells, or other encumbrances adhere. Also, the bottom of the sea if rocky...

The Sailor's Word-Book
kettle-bottom
A name applied to a ship with a flat floor. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
sharp bottom
Synonymous with a sharp floor; used in contradistinction to a flat floor: the epithet denotes vessel...

The Sailor's Word-Book
stiff bottom
A clayey bottom. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
filling a ship's bottom
Implies covering the bottom of a ship with broad-headed nails, so as to give her a sheathing of iron...

The Sailor's Word-Book
pay a vessel's bottom, to
To cover it with tallow, sulphur, rosin, &c. (See breaming.) ...

The Sailor's Word-Book