-
Edge
·vi To sail close to the wind.
II. Edge ·vt To shape or dress the edge of, as with a tool.
III. Ed...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
to edge
To excite, stimulate, or provoke; or as it is vulgarly called, to egg a man on. Fall back, fall edge...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to edge
To move sideways; to move gradually.--Webster.
Well, says I, I must be a goin'; I can't think of pa...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
edge away, to
To decline gradually from the course which the ship formerly steered, by sailing larger, or more off...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
Down
·adj Downcast; as, a down look.
II. Down ·adv From a remoter or higher antiquity.
III. Down ·vt To...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
down
Aware of a thing. Knowing it. There is NO DOWN. A cant phrase used by house-breakers to signify that...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
down
I.
n.
a prejudice against, hostility to;a peculiarly Australian noun made out of the adverb.
1856...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
fall down, to
To sail, drift, or be towed to some lower part nearer a river's mouth or opening.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
try down, to
To boil out the oil from blubber at sea in whalers.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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Advancing edge
·add. ·- The front edge (in direction of motion) of a supporting surface;
— contr. with following e...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Deckle edge
·add. ·- The rough, untrimmed edge of paper left by the deckle; also, a rough edge in imitation of t...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Feather-edge
·noun Any thin, as on a board or a razor.
II. Feather-edge ·noun The thin, new growth around the ed...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Following edge
·add. ·- ·see Advancing-edge, above.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Gilt-edge
·adj ·Alt. of Gilt-edged.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Knife-edge
·noun A piece of steel sharpened to an acute edge or angle, and resting on a smooth surface, serving...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Leading edge
·add. ·- ·same·as Advancing edge, above.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Trailing edge
·add. ·- A following edge. ·see Advancing edge, above.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
moulding edge
That edge of a timber to which, in shaping it, the mould is applied.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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sea-edge
The boundary between the icy regions of the "north water" and the unfrozen portion of the Arctic Sea...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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rattle down rigging, to
or, to rattle the shrouds.
To fix the ratlines in a line parallel to the vessel's set on the water...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down wind, down sea
A proverbial expression among seamen between the tropics, where the sea is soon raised by the wind, ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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Down-share
·noun A breastplow used in paring off turf on downs.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Down-wind
·add. ·adv With the wind.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Lock-down
·noun A contrivance to fasten logs together in rafting;
— used by lumbermen.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Steep-down
·adj Deep and precipitous, having steep descent.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Step-down
·add. ·adj Transforming or converting a current of high potential or pressure into one of low pressu...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Swan's-down
·noun ·Alt. of Swans-down.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Swans-down
·noun The down, or fine, soft feathers, of the swan, used on various articles of dress.
II. Swans-d...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Tumble-down
·adj Ready to fall; dilapidated; ruinous; as, a tumble-down house.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
down hills
Dice that run low.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to drop down
To be dispirited. This expression is used by thieves to signify that their companion did not die gam...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
boil down
v.
to reduce a statement to itssimplest form; a constant term amongst pressmen. Over thereporters' ...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
knock-down
v.
generally of a cheque. To spendriotously, usually in drink.
1869. Marcus Clarke, `Peripatetic P...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
lamb down
v. tr.
1) To knock down a cheque or a sum of money in a spree.There is an old English verb, of Scan...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
mulga-down
n.
hills covered with Mulga.
1890. Rolf Boldrewood, `Colonial Reformer,' c. xvii. p. 201:
«Fascin...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
take (a man) down
Australian sporting slang.
1) Toinduce a man to bet, knowing that he must lose.
2) To advisea man ...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
clap down
To set down; charge to one's account.
If a man be highly commended, we think him sufficiently lesse...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to knock down
A word used at auctions. 'This article is knocked down to you, sir;' meaning, that you are the purch...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
down upon
To be down upon, is to seize with avidity, as a bird of prey would pounce down upon its victim. Allu...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
slipper-down
A vulgar name in some parts of Connecticut for hasty pudding. The etymology is obvious.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
down-lying
just going to be brought to bed. N.
...
A glossary of provincial and local words used in England by Francis Grose
-
blacking down
The tarring and blacking of rigging; or the operation of blacking the ship's sides with tar or miner...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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bore down
Sailed down from to windward.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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cutting down
Taking a deck off a ship; as ships of the line are converted into frigates, the Royal Sovereign into...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
down along
Sailing coastways down Channel.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down east
Far away in that bearing. This term, as down west, &c., is an Americanism, recently adopted into our...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
down-haul
A rope passing up along a stay, leading through cringles of the staysails or jib, and made fast to t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
down killock!
Let go the grapnel; the corruption of keel-hook or anchor.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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down oars!
The order on shoving off a boat when the men have had them "tossed up."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
go down
The name given to store-houses and magazines in the East Indies.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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heaving down
(See careening.) The bringing one of a ship's sides down into the water, by means of purchases on th...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
hove down
, properly hove out or careened. The situation of a ship when heeled or placed thus for repairs.
♦...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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hull-down
Is said of a ship when at such a distance that, from the convexity of the globe, only her masts and ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
laying down
, or laying off.
The act of delineating the various lines of a ship to the full size on the mould-...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
pipe down!
The order to dismiss the men from the deck when a duty has been performed on board ship.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
riding-down
The act of the men who throw their weight on the head of a sail to stretch it. Also, of the man who ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
strike down!
The order to lower casks, &c., into the hold.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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union down
When a ship hoists her ensign upside down it is a signal of distress or of mourning.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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To
·prep Addition; union; accumulation.
II. To ·prep Character; condition of being; purpose subserved ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-
·prep An obsolete intensive prefix used in the formation of compound verbs; as in to-beat, to-break,...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
to
for at or in, is an exceedingly common vulgarism in the Northern States. We often hear such vile exp...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
rolling down to st. helena
Running with a flowing sheet by the trade-wind.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
run down a coast, to
To sail along it, keeping parallel to or skirting its dangers.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
run down a vessel, to
To pass over, into, or foul her by running against her end-on, so as to jeopardize her.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
bring-to, to
To bend, as to bring-to a sail to the yard. Also, to check the course of a ship by trimming the sail...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
broach-to, to
To fly up into the wind. It generally happens when a ship is carrying a press of canvas with the win...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
heave-to, to
To put a vessel in the position of lying-to, by adjusting her sails so as to counteract each other, ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
lie-to, to
To cause a vessel to keep her head steady as regards a gale, so that a heavy sea may not tumble into...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
round-to, to
To bring to, or haul to the wind by means of the helm. To go round, is to tack or wear.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
knock me down
Strong ale or beer, stingo.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
cutting-down line
An elliptical curve line used by shipwrights in the delineation of ships; it determines the depth of...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
down all chests!
The order to get all the officers' and seamen's chests down below from off the gun-decks when cleari...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
down all hammocks!
The order for all the sailors to carry their hammocks down, and hang them up in their respective ber...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
down-haul tackles
Employed when lower yards are struck in bad weather to prevent them from swaying about after the tru...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
hauling down vacancy
The colloquialism expressive of the promotion of a flag-lieutenant and midshipman on an admiral's ha...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
jaw-me-down
An arrogant, overbearing, and unsound loud arguer.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
out or down
An exclamation of the boatswain, &c., in ordering men out of their hammocks, i.e. turn out, or your ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
peak down-haul
A rope rove through a block at the outer end of the gaff to haul it down by.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
running-down clause
A special admission into policies of marine insurance, to include the risk of loss or damage in cons...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
ship cut down
One which has had a deck cut off from her, whereby a three-decker is converted into a two-decker, an...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
up and down
The situation of the cable when it has been hove in sufficiently to bring the ship directly over the...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
put to sea, to
To quit a port or roadstead, and proceed to the destination.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
turn to windward, to
To gain on the wind by alternate tacking. It is when a ship endeavours to make progress against the ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
Lean-to
·adj Having only one slope or pitch;
— said of a roof.
II. Lean-to ·noun A shed or slight building...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
Set-to
·noun A contest in boxing, in an argument, or the like.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-beat
·vt To beat thoroughly or severely.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-break
·vt To break completely; to break in pieces.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-brest
·vt To burst or break in pieces.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-day
·noun The present day.
II. To-day ·prep On this day; on the present day.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-do
·noun Bustle; stir; commotion; ado.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-fall
·noun A lean-to. ·see Lean-to.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-name
·noun A name added, for the sake of distinction, to one's surname, or used instead of it.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-rend
·vt To rend in pieces.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
To-rent
·Impf & ·p.p. of To-rend.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
-
to bam
To impose on any one by a falsity; also to jeer or make fun of any one.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to bamboozle
To make a fool of any one, to humbug or impose on him.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to baste
To beat. I'll give him his bastings, I'll beat him heartily.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to bishop
the balls, a term used among printers, to water them.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to bitch
To yield, or give up an attempt through fear. To stand bitch; to make tea, or do the honours of the ...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to bite
To over-reach, or impose; also to steal.--Cant. --Biting was once esteemed a kind of wit, similar to...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to bug
A cant word among journeymen hatters, signifying the exchanging some of the dearest materials of whi...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to grab
To seize a man. The pigs grabbed the kiddey for a crack: the officers, seized the youth for a burgla...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to top
To cheat, or trick: also to insult: he thought to have topped upon me. Top; the signal among taylors...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to tower
To overlook, to rise aloft as in a high tower.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
to twig
To observe. Twig the cull, he is peery; observe the fellow, he is watching us. Also to disengage, sn...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
-
hump, to
v.
to shoulder, carry on the back;especially, to hump the swag, or bluey, or drum. See Swag, Bluey,...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
jump, to
v.
to take possession of a claim(mining) on land, on the ground that a former possessor hasabandone...
Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
-
to buckle-to
To set about any task with energy and a determination to effect the object. It probably comes from h...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
to cotton to
'To cotton to one,' is to take a liking to him; to fancy him; literally to stick to him, as cotton w...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
-
abase, to
An old word signifying to lower a flag or sail. Abaisser is in use in the French marine, and both ma...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
abate, to
An old Anglo-Norman word from abattre, to beat down or destroy; as, to abate a castle or fort, is to...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
abet, to
To excite or encourage a common word, greatly in use at boat-racings, and other competitive acts.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
abrase, to
To dubb or smooth planks.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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accoil, to
To coil together, by folding round. (See coil.)
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
accompany, to
To sail together; to sail in convoy.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
accost, to
To pass within hail of a ship; to sail coastwise; to approach, to draw near, or come side by side.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
adjourn, to
To put off till another day. Adjournments can be made in courts-martial from day to day, Sundays exc...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
adjust, to
To arrange an instrument for use and observation; as, to adjust a sextant, or the escapement of a ch...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
advance, to
An old word, meaning to raise to honour.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
aid, to
To succour; to supply with provisions or stores.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
allow, to
To concede a destined portion of stores, &c.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
annul, to
To nullify a signal.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
answer, to
To reply, to succeed; as, the frigate has answered the signal. This boat will not answer.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
commute, to
To lighten the sentence of a court-martial, on a recommendation of the court to the commander-in-chi...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
compass, to
To curve; also to obtain one's object.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
complain, to
The creaking of masts, or timbers, when over-pressed, without any apparent external defect. One man ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
compliment, to
To render naval or military honour where due.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
conquer, to
To overcome decidedly.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
consign, to
To send a consignment of goods to an agent or factor for sale or disposal.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
copper, to
To cover the ship's bottom with prepared copper.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
corn, to
A remainder of the Anglo-Saxon ge-cyrned, salted. To preserve meat for a time by salting it slightly...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
couple, to
To bend two hawsers together; coupling links of a cable; coupling shackles.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
cripple, to
To disable an enemy's ship by wounding his masts, yards, and steerage gear, thereby placing him hors...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
cund, to
To give notice which way a shoal of fish is gone.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
cure, to
To salt meat or fish.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
debark, to
To land; to go on shore.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
decamp, to
To raise the camp; the breaking up from a place where an army has been encamped.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
deck, to
A word formerly in use for to trim, as "we deckt up our sails."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
derrick, to
A cant term for setting out on a small not over-creditable enterprise. The act is said to be named f...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
diddle, to
To deceive.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
ding, to
To dash down or throw with violence.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
dip, to
To lower. An object is said to be dipping when by refraction it is visible just above the horizon. A...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
discourse, to
An old sea term to traverse to and fro off the proper course.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
dish, to
To supplant, ruin, or frustrate.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
dismount, to
To break the carriages of guns, and thereby render them unfit for service. Also, in gun exercise, to...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
disorganize, to
To degrade a man-of-war to a privateer by irregularity.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
dive, to
To descend or plunge voluntarily head-foremost under the water. To go off deck in the watch. A ship ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
doff, to
To put aside.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
double, to
To cover a ship with an extra planking, usually of 4 inches, either internally or externally, when t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
douse, to
To lower or slacken down suddenly; expressed of a sail in a squall of wind, an extended hawser, &c. ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
dout, to
To put out a light; to extinguish; do out. Shakspeare makes the dauphin of France say in "King Henry...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
dress, to
To place a fleet in organized order; also, to arrange men properly in ranks; to present a true conti...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
drive, to
[from the Anglo-Saxon dryfan].
A ship drives when her anchor trips or will not hold. She drives to...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
dubb, to
To smooth and cut off with an adze the superfluous wood.
♦ To dubb a vessel bright, is to remove t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
duck, to
To dive, or immerse another under water; or to avoid a shot.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
egg, to
To instigate, incite, provoke, to urge on: from the Anglo-Saxon eggion.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
eke, to
[Anglo-Saxon eácan, to prolong.] To make anything go far by reduction and moderation, as in shorteni...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
embark, to
To go on board, or to put on board a vessel.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
endanger, to
To expose to peril.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
enrol, to
To enter the name on the roll of a corps.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
ensconce, to
To intrench; to protect by a slight fortification.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
equip, to
A term frequently applied to the business of fitting a ship for a trading voyage, or arming her for ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
export, to
To send goods or commodities out of a country, for the purposes of traffic, under the general name o...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
faff, to
To blow in flaws.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fag, to
to tire
♦ A fag. A deputy labouring-man, or one who works hard for another.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fall, to
A town or fortress is said to fall when it is compelled to surrender to besiegers.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fang, to
To pour water into a pump in order to fetch it, when otherwise the boxes do not hold the water left ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
favour, to
to be careful of; also to be fair for.
"Favour her" is purely a seaman's term; as when it blows in...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fay, to
To fit any two pieces of wood, so as to join close and fair together; the plank is said to fay to th...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
feaze, to
To untwist, to unlay ropes; to teaze, to convert it into oakum.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fell, to
To cut down timber. To knock down by a heavy blow. Fell is the Anglo-Saxon for a skin or hide.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fetch, to
To reach, or arrive at; as, "we shall fetch to windward of the lighthouse this tack."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fettle, to
To fit, repair, or put in order. Also, a threat.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fill, to
To brace the yards so that the wind strikes the after side of the sails, and advances the ship in he...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
find, to
To provide with or furnish.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fist, to
To handle a rope or sail promptly; thus fisting a thing is readily getting hold of it.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
flying-to
Is when a vessel, from sailing free or having tacked, and her head thrown much to leeward, is coming...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
founder, to
to fill with water and go down.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
frap, to
To bind tightly together. To pass lines round a sail to keep it from blowing loose. To secure the fa...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
free, to
♦ To free a prisoner. To restore him to liberty.
♦ To free a pump. To disengage or clear it.
♦ T...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
freeze, to
To congeal water or any fluid. Thus sea-water freezes at 28° 5′ Fah.; fresh water at 32°; mercury at...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
freshen, to
To relieve a rope of its strain, or danger of chafing, by shifting or removing its place of nip.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
fumigate, to
To purify confined or infectious air by means of smoke, sulphuric acid, vinegar, and other correctiv...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
furl, to
To roll up and bind a sail neatly upon its respective yard or boom.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
gammon, to
To pass the lashings of the bowsprit.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
gee, to
To suit or fit; as, "that will just gee."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
-
gip, to
To take the entrails out of fishes.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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gird, to
To bind; used formerly for striking a blow.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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glent, to
To turn aside or quit the original direction, as a shot does from accidentally impinging on a hard s...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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glower, to
to stare or look intently.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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grabble, to
To endeavour to hook a sunk article. To catch fish by hand in a brook.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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grapple, to
To hook with a grapnel; to lay hold of. First used by Duilius to prevent the escape of the Carthagin...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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grave, to
To clean a vessel's bottom, and pay it over.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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grill, to
To broil on the bars of the galley-range, as implied by its French derivation.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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griped-to
The situation of a boat when secured by gripes.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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ground, to
To take the bottom or shore; to be run aground through ignorance, violence, or accident.
♦ To stri...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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guddle, to
To catch fish with the hands by groping along a stream's bank.
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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gudge, to
To poke or prod for fish under stones and banks of a river.
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The Sailor's Word-Book