A conical piece of wood to let in or keep out water, when fitted to a hole in the bottom of a boat.
♦ Hawse-plugs. To stop the hawse-holes when the cables are unbent, and the ship plunges in a head-sea.
♦ Shot-plugs. Covered with oakum and tallow, to stop shot-holes in the sides of a ship near the water-line; being conical, they adapt themselves to any sized shot-holes.