dog-watch

The Sailor's Word-Book

The half-watches of two hours each, from 4 to 6, and from 6 to 8, in the evening. By this arrangement an uneven number of watches is made seven instead of six in the twenty-four hours; otherwise there would be a succession of the same watches at the same hours throughout the voyage or cruise. Theodore Hook explained them as cur-tailed. (See watch.)

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