-
Tell
·noun A hill or mound.
II. Tell ·noun That which is told; tale; account.
III. Tell ·vi To give an ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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tell
A saying; generally, however, a good one, or a complimentary one. A young lady will say to another, ...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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Off
·adv Denoting opposition or negation.
II. Off ·interj Away; begone;
— a command to depart.
III. O...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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off
The opposite to near. Also applied to a ship sailing from the shore into the open sea. Also, implies...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ball-off, to
To twist rope-yarns into balls, with a running end in the heart for making spun-yarn.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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blow off, to
To clear up in the clouds.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fend off, to
In order to avoid violent contact, is, by the application of a spar, junk, rattans, &c., to prevent ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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file off, to
To march off to a flank by files, or with a very small front.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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haul off, to
To sail closer to the wind, in order to get further from any object.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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move off, to
To defile.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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pyke off, to
To go away silently.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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sheer off, to
To move to a greater distance, or to steer so as to keep clear of a vessel or other object.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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swig off, to
To pull at the bight of a rope by jerks, having its lower end fast; or to gain on a rope by jumping ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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well off, to
A mode of shutting off a leak by surrounding it by timbers screwed home through the lining to the ti...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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to hear tell
To hear a report of; to hear of. The expression is frequently heard among illiterate people in famil...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to tell on
To tell of; to tell about.
"Well," says the Gineral, "I am glad I didn't understand him, for now it...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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do tell!
A vulgar exclamation common tn New England, and synonymous with really! indeed! is it possible!
A b...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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tell apart
To distinguish; as, 'Their resemblance was so striking, that I could not tell them apart.' We also u...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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tell-tale
A compass hanging face downwards from the beams in the cabin, showing the position of the vessel's h...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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tell that to the marines!
A sailor's exclamation when an improbable story is related to him.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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Blow-off
·adj as, a blow-off cock or pipe.
II. Blow-off ·noun A blowing off steam, water, ·etc.;.
III. Blow...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Cast-off
·adj Cast or laid aside; as, cast-off clothes.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Cut-off
·noun That which cuts off or shortens, as a nearer passage or road.
II. Cut-off ·noun Any device fo...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Damp off
·- To decay and perish through excessive moisture.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Far-off
·adj Remote; as, the far-off distance. ·cf. Far-off, under Far, ·adv
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Knock-off
·add. ·adj That knocks off; of or pertaining to knocking off.
II. Knock-off ·add. ·noun Act or plac...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Left-off
·adj Laid aside; cast-off.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Let-off
·noun A device for letting off, releasing, or giving forth, as the warp from the cylinder of a loom....
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Put-off
·noun A shift for evasion or delay; an evasion; an <<Excuse>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Set-off
·noun ·see <<Offset>>, 7.
II. Set-off ·noun ·same·as <<Offset>>, ·noun, 4.
III. Set-off ·noun That...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Take-off
·noun An imitation, especially in the way of caricature.
II. Take-off ·add. ·noun The spot at which...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Taking-off
·add. ·noun The removal of sheets from the press.
II. Taking-off ·noun Removal; murder. ·see To tak...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Throw-off
·noun A start in a hunt or a race.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Wash-off
·adj Capable of being washed off; not permanent or durable;
— said of colors not fixed by steaming ...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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clawed off
Severely beaten or whipped; also smartly poxed or clapped.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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toss off
Manual pollution.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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to whip off
To run away, to drink off greedily, to snatch. He whipped away from home, went to the alehouse, wher...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris
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to bluff off
To put on a troublesome questioner, or dun, &c.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to choke off
A figurative expression borrowed from the act of choking a dog to make him loosen his hold. To arres...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to fob off
To delude by a trick.--Johnson.
A low word now seldom used, though we have good authority for it.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to head off
To get before; to intercept. Ex. 'The thief ran fast, but the officer managed to head him off.'
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to slab off
I do not know the exact meaning of this expression.
You must take notice that I am slabb'd off from...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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to stave off
To push away as with a staff; to delay; as, 'to stave off the execution of the project.--Webster.
H...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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cut-off
Passages cut by the great Western rivers, particularly the Mississippi, affording new channels, and ...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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hands off
A vulgar phrase for keep off; forbear.--Johnson.
They cut a stag into parts; but as they were enter...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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put off
An excuse, an illusory pretext for delay.--Carr's Craven Dialect.
If a man tells them of the king's...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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right off
Directly; immediately.
...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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away off
At a distance, but in sight.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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boxing off
Is performed by hauling the head-sheets to windward, and laying the head-yards flat aback, to pay th...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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break-off
(See broken-off)
"She breaks off from her course," applied only when the wind will not allow of ke...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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broken-off
Fallen off, in azimuth, from the course. Also, men taken from one duty to be put on another.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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claw off
See claw, to
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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crawling off
Working off a lee-shore by slow degrees.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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cut off
A term used to denote a vessel's being seized by stratagem by the natives, and the crew being murder...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ease off!
,or ease away there!
To slacken out a rope or tackle-fall carefully.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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falling off
The opposite of griping, or coming up to the wind; it is the movement or direction of the ship's hea...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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hold off
The keeping the hove-in part of a cable or hawser clear of the capstan.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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keep off
To fall to a distance from the shore, or a ship, &c. (See offing.)
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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killing-off
Striking the names of dead officers from the navy list by a coup de plume.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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laying off
See laying down
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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lie off!
An order given to a boat to remain off on her oars till permission is given for her to come alongsid...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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making off
Cutting the flensed blubber of a whale into pieces, fitted to pass in at the bilge-holes of the butt...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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nothing off!
A term used by the man at the conn to the steersman, directing him to keep her close to the wind; or...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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off duty
An officer, marine, or seaman in his watch below, &c. An officer is sometimes put "off duty" as a pu...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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off-reckoning
A proportion of the full pay of troops retained from them, in special cases, until the period of fin...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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paid off
See paying off.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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paying off
The movement by which a ship's head falls off from the wind, and drops to leeward. Also, the paying ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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push off
See put off!
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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put off!
or push off
The order to boats to quit the ship or the shore.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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shove off!
The order to the bowman to put the boat's head off with his boat-hook.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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slack off
, or slacken!
The order to ease away the rope or tackle by which anything is held fast; as, "Slack...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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taking off
Said of tides, when decreasing from the spring-tides.
...
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
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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
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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.
-
tell-tale shake
The shake of a rope from aloft to denote that it wants letting go.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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to bark off squirrels
A common way of killing squirrels among those who are expert with the rifle, in the Western States, ...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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off and on
Vacillating, changeable, undecided; in which sense it is much used with us. In England it is also us...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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back off all
The order when the harpooner has thrown his harpoon into the whale. Also, to back off a sudden dange...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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blow-off-pipe
, in a steamer, is a pipe at the foot of each boiler, communicating with the sea, and furnished with...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ease off handsomely!
,or ease away there!
To slacken out a rope or tackle-fall carefully.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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off and on
When a ship beating to windward approaches the shore by one board, and recedes from it when on the o...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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off she goes!
Means run away with the purchase fall. Move to the tune of the fifer. The first move when a vessel i...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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off the reel
At once; without stopping. In allusion to the way in which the log-line flies off the reel when a sh...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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pricking her off
Marking a ship's position upon a chart by the help of a scale and compasses, so as to show her situa...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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put to sea, to
To quit a port or roadstead, and proceed to the destination.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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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
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Set-to
·noun A contest in boxing, in an argument, or the like.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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To-beat
·vt To beat thoroughly or severely.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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To-break
·vt To break completely; to break in pieces.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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To-brest
·vt To burst or break in pieces.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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To-day
·noun The present day.
II. To-day ·prep On this day; on the present day.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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To-do
·noun Bustle; stir; commotion; ado.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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To-fall
·noun A lean-to. ·see Lean-to.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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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
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To-rend
·vt To rend in pieces.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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To-rent
·Impf & ·p.p. of To-rend.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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abet, to
To excite or encourage a common word, greatly in use at boat-racings, and other competitive acts.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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accompany, to
To sail together; to sail in convoy.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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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
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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
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advance, to
An old word, meaning to raise to honour.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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aid, to
To succour; to supply with provisions or stores.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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allow, to
To concede a destined portion of stores, &c.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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annul, to
To nullify a signal.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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answer, to
To reply, to succeed; as, the frigate has answered the signal. This boat will not answer.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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compass, to
To curve; also to obtain one's object.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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complain, to
The creaking of masts, or timbers, when over-pressed, without any apparent external defect. One man ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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compliment, to
To render naval or military honour where due.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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conquer, to
To overcome decidedly.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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consign, to
To send a consignment of goods to an agent or factor for sale or disposal.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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copper, to
To cover the ship's bottom with prepared copper.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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couple, to
To bend two hawsers together; coupling links of a cable; coupling shackles.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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cund, to
To give notice which way a shoal of fish is gone.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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cure, to
To salt meat or fish.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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debark, to
To land; to go on shore.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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decamp, to
To raise the camp; the breaking up from a place where an army has been encamped.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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deck, to
A word formerly in use for to trim, as "we deckt up our sails."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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diddle, to
To deceive.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ding, to
To dash down or throw with violence.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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discourse, to
An old sea term to traverse to and fro off the proper course.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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dish, to
To supplant, ruin, or frustrate.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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disorganize, to
To degrade a man-of-war to a privateer by irregularity.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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doff, to
To put aside.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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egg, to
To instigate, incite, provoke, to urge on: from the Anglo-Saxon eggion.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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endanger, to
To expose to peril.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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enrol, to
To enter the name on the roll of a corps.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ensconce, to
To intrench; to protect by a slight fortification.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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faff, to
To blow in flaws.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fag, to
to tire
♦ A fag. A deputy labouring-man, or one who works hard for another.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fall, to
A town or fortress is said to fall when it is compelled to surrender to besiegers.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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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
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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
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founder, to
to fill with water and go down.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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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
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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
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gip, to
To take the entrails out of fishes.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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gird, to
To bind; used formerly for striking a blow.
...
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