well

The Sailor's Word-Book

[from the Anglo-Saxon wyll]. A bulk-headed inclosure in the middle of a ship's hold, defending the pumps from the bottom up to the lower deck from damage, by preventing the entrance of ballast or other obstructions, which would choke the boxes or valves in a short time, and render the pumps useless. By means of this inclosure the artificers may likewise more readily descend into the hold, to examine or repair the pumps, as occasion requires.

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