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Beat
·noun A stroke; a blow.
II. Beat ·Impf of Beat.
III. Beat ·p.p. of Beat.
IV. Beat ·vt To tread, a...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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to beat
To excel, surpass in a contest. Thus we say, one racer or steamer beats another.
Also, to overcome ...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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beat
The verb means to excel, surpass, or overcome.
"And then their ships could only follow,
For we h...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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beat to arms
The signal by drum to summon the men to their quarters.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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beat to quarters
The order for the drummer to summon every one to his respective station.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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Dead beat
·- ·see <<Beat>>, ·noun, 7.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Dry-beat
·vt To beat severely.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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Storm-beat
·adj Beaten, injured, or impaired by storms.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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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.
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Double-beat valve
·- ·see under <<Valve>>.
...
Webster's Dictionary of the English Language
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to beat the hoof
to travel on foot. He hoofed it or beat the hoof, every step of the way from Chester to London.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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to beat all hollow
To surpass or overcome completely; thus, "Eclipse beat Sir Henry all hollow." Also, to take wholly b...
Dictionary of American Words And Phrases by John Russell Bartlett.
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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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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-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
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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
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to bishop
the balls, a term used among printers, to water them.
...
Dictionary of The Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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feaze, to
To untwist, to unlay ropes; to teaze, to convert it into oakum.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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fetch, to
To reach, or arrive at; as, "we shall fetch to windward of the lighthouse this tack."
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fettle, to
To fit, repair, or put in order. Also, a threat.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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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
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find, to
To provide with or furnish.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fist, to
To handle a rope or sail promptly; thus fisting a thing is readily getting hold of it.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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flabbergast, to
To throw a person aback by a confounding assertion; to produce a state of extreme surprise.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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flank, to
To defend that part; incorrectly used sometimes for firing upon a flank.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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flare, to
To rake back, as of a fashion-piece or knuckle-timber.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fleate, to
To skim fresh water off the sea, as practised at the mouths of the Rhone, the Nile, &c. The word is ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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flemish, to
To coil down a rope concentrically in the direction of the sun, or coil of a watch-spring, beginning...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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flense, to
To strip the fat off a flayed seal, or the blubber from a whale.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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fletch, to
To feather an arrow.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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flicker, to
to veer about.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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flop, to
To fall flat down: as "soused flop in the lee-scuppers."
...
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
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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
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The Sailor's Word-Book
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fumigate, to
To purify confined or infectious air by means of smoke, sulphuric acid, vinegar, and other correctiv...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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furl, to
To roll up and bind a sail neatly upon its respective yard or boom.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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gammon, to
To pass the lashings of the bowsprit.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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gee, to
To suit or fit; as, "that will just gee."
...
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.
...
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.
...
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.
...
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.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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griped-to
The situation of a boat when secured by gripes.
...
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.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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gudge, to
To poke or prod for fish under stones and banks of a river.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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plash, to
To wattle or interweave branches.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ply, to
To carry cargoes or passengers for short trips. Also, to work to windward, to beat. Also, to ply an ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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powder, to
To salt meat slightly; as Falstaff says, "If thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder m...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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press, to
To reduce an enemy to straits. (See impressment.)
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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prime, to
To make ready a gun, mine, &c., for instantaneous firing.
Also, to pierce the cartridge with the p...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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prise, to
To raise, or slue, weighty bodies by means of a lever purchase or power. (See prizing.)
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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prove, to
To test the soundness of fire-arms, by trying them with greater charges than those used on service.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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pursue, to
To make all sail in chase.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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reduce, to
To degrade to a lower rank; or to shorten the allowance of water or provisions.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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reeve, to
To pass the end of a rope through any cavity or aperture, as the channel of a block; to unreeve is t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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reinforce, to
To strengthen a fleet, squadron, army, or detachment, by additional means and munitions.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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relieve, to
To put fresh men or ships upon a stipulated duty.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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replenish, to
To obtain supplies of water and provisions up to the original amount.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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resolve, to
To reduce a traverse, or day's work, to its exact limits.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ret, to
To soak in water, as in seasoning timber, hemp, &c.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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ride, to
To ride at anchor. A vessel rides easily, apeak, athwart, head to wind, out a gale, open hawse, to t...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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rig, to
To fit the shrouds, stays, braces, and running-rigging to their respective masts, yards, and sails. ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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rouse, to
To man-handle. "Rouse in the cable," haul it in, and make it taut.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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row, to
To propel a boat or vessel by oars or sweeps, which are managed in a direction nearly horizontal. (S...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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sack, to
[from the Anglo-Saxon sæc]. To pillage a place which has been taken by storm.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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sagg, to
To bend or give way from heavy weight; to press down towards the middle; the opposite of hogging. In...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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salam, to
To salute a superior; a very common term, borrowed from India. Overdoing it does not please Jack, fo...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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scuttle, to
To cut or bore holes through part of a ship when she is stranded or over-set, and continues to float...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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seduce, to
To inveigle a man to desertion.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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send, to
To rise after pitching heavily and suddenly between two waves, or out of the trough of the sea.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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serve, to
To supply the gun with powder and shot. Also, to handle it through all the changes of station.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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shake, to
To cast off fastenings, as
♦ To shake out a reef. To let out a reef, and enlarge the sail.
♦ To ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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shieve, to
To have head-way. To row the wrong way, in order to assist the steersman in a narrow channel.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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shoot, to
To move suddenly; as "the ballast shoots on one side." Also, a ship shoots ahead in stays. Also, to ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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shorten, to
Said of a ship's sails when requisite to reduce those that are set. And shorten in, when alluding to...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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signalize, to
To distinguish one's self; a word also degraded to the meaning of communicating intelligence by mean...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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single, to
To unreeve the running part of top-sail sheets, &c., to let them run freely, or for harbour duty.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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size, to
To range soldiers, marines, and small-arm men, so that the tallest may be on the flanks of a party.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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skedaddle, to
To stray wilfully from a watering or a working party. An archaism retained by the Americans.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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skelp, to
To slap with the open hand: an old word, said to have been imported from Iceland:
"I canno' tell a...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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sling, to
To pass the top-chains round the yards when going into action. Also, to set any large article, in ro...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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slue, to
To turn anything round or over in situ: especially expressing the movement of a gun, cask, or ship; ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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snaggle, to
To angle for geese with a hook and line properly baited.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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snape, to
In ship-carpentry, is to hance or bevel the end of anything, so as to fay upon an inclined plane: it...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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spill, to
Whether for safety or facility, it is advisable to shiver the wind out of a sail before furling or r...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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spoom, to
An old word frequently found in Dryden, who thus uses it,
"When virtue spooms before a prosp'rous ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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stand, to
The movement by which a ship advances towards a certain object, or departs from it; as, "The enemy s...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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stave, to
To break a hole in any vessel. Also, to drive in the head of a cask, as of spirits, to prevent the c...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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steep-to
[Anglo-Saxon stéap.] Said of a bold shore, admitting of the largest vessels coming very close to the...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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stoke, to
To frequent the galley in a man-of-war, or to trim fires.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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storm, to
To take by vigorous assault, in spite of the resistance of the defenders.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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strike, to
A ship strikes when she in any way touches the bottom. Also, to lower anything, as the ensign or top...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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sugg, to
To move or rock heavily on a bank or reef.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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swagg, to
To sink down by its own weight; to move heavily or bend. Synonymous with sagg. Also, the bellying of...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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sway, to
or sway away.
To hoist simultaneously; particularly applied to the lower yards and top-masts, and ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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swilker, to
A provincialism for splashing about.
...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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swim, to
[from the Anglo-Saxon swymm]. To move along the surface of the water by means of the simultaneous mo...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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swing, to
A ship is said to swing to the wind or tide, when they change their direction while she is lying at ...
The Sailor's Word-Book
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tally, to
To haul the sheets aft; as used by Falconer
"And while the lee clue-garnet's lower'd away,
Taut ...
The Sailor's Word-Book