A high rate of interest charged on the safety of the ship the lender losing his whole money if she be lost.
·noun A sum of money paid to underwriters for insurance, or for undertaking to indemnify for losses ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
Simply a reward; but in commerce it implies the sum of money paid to the underwriters on ship or car...
The Sailor's Word-Book
·noun A contract in the nature of a mortgage, by which the owner of a ship, or the master as his age...
See bottomree ...
An authority to borrow money, by pledging the keel or bottom of the ship. (See bottomry.) ...