lead, sounding

The Sailor's Word-Book

An instrument for discovering the depth of water; it is a tapered cylinder of lead, of 7, 14, or 28 lbs. weight, and attached, by means of a strop, to the lead-line, which is marked at certain distances to ascertain the fathoms. (See hand-line.)

♦ Deep-sea lead.

A lead of a larger size, being from 28 to 56 lbs. in weight, and attached to a much longer line. (See deep-sea line.)

♦ To heave the lead. To throw it into the sea as far ahead as possible, if the ship is under way.

The Sailor's Word-Book

← lazy painter × lead →

Related Words

sounding-lead
See lead. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
Sounding
·p.pr. & ·vb.n. of <<Sound>>. II. Sounding ·noun measurement by sounding; also, the depth so ascert...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
sounding
The operation of ascertaining the depth of the sea, and the quality of the ground, by means of a lea...

The Sailor's Word-Book
Lead
·noun An open way in an ice field. II. Lead ·noun A <<Lode>>. III. Lead ·noun The course of a rope...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
lead
n. (pronounced leed), a miningterm. In the Western United States and elsewhere, the termlead in min...

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
lead
The direction in which running ropes lead fair, and come down to the deck. Also, in Arctic seas, a c...

The Sailor's Word-Book
Lead
This is one of the most common of metals, found generally in veins of rocks, though seldom in a meta...

William Smith's Bible Dictionary
High-sounding
·adj Pompous; noisy; ostentatious; as, high-sounding words or titles. ...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
Sounding balloon
·add. ·- An unmanned balloon sent aloft for meteorological or aeronautic purposes. ...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
Sounding-board
·noun ·see Sound boarding, under Sound, a noise. II. Sounding-board ·noun A thin board which propag...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
sounding-line
This line, with a plummet, is mentioned by Lucilius; and was the sund-gyrd of the Anglo-Saxons. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
sounding-rod
A slight rod of iron marked with feet and inches, which being let down by a line in a groove of the ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
Black lead
·- Plumbago; graphite. It leaves a blackish mark somewhat like lead. ·see <<Graphite>>. ...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
Pot lead
·add. ·- Graphite, or black lead, often used on the bottoms of racing vessels to diminish friction. ...

Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
fair-lead
Is applied to ropes as suffering the least friction in a block, when they are said to lead fair. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
hand-lead
A small lead used in the channels, or chains, when approaching land, and for sounding in rivers or h...

The Sailor's Word-Book
lead-line
A line attached to the upper end of the sounding-lead. (See hand-line and deep-sea line.) ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
lead-nails
Small round-headed composition nails for nailing lead. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
milled lead
Sheet lead. ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
heave the lead
To take soundings with the hand lead-line. "Get a cast of the lead," with the deep-sea lead and line...

The Sailor's Word-Book
lead, to strike the
See above. Used figurativelyfor to succeed. 1874. Garnet Walch, `Head over Heels,' p. 74: «We coul...

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
cast of the lead
The act of heaving the lead into the sea to ascertain what depth of water there is. (See also heave ...

The Sailor's Word-Book
ready with the lead!
A caution when the vessel is luffed up to deaden her way, followed by "heave." ...

The Sailor's Word-Book