Moby-Dick (Barnes & Noble Classics Series)

by Herman Melville

  Carlings. Short and small pieces of timber running between the beams.

  Carry-away. To break a spar, or part a rope.

  Cat. The tackle used to hoist the anchor up to the cat-head. Cat-block, the block of this tackle.

  Cat-harpin. An iron leg used to confine the upper part of the rigging to the mast.

  Cat-head. Large timbers projecting from the vessel’s side, to which the anchor is raised and secured.

  Cat’s-paw. A kind of hitch made in a rope. A light current of air seen on the surface of the water during a calm.

  Caulk. To fill the seams of a vessel with oakum.

  Chafe. To rub the surface of a rope or spar.Chafing-gear is the stuff put upon the rigging and spars to prevent their chafing.

  Chains. Strong links or plates of iron, the lower ends of which are bolted through the ship’s side to the timbers. Their upper ends are secured to the bottom of the dead-eyes in the channels. Also, used familiarly for the Channels, which see. The chain cable of a vessel is called familiarly her chain.Rudder-chains lead from the outer and upper end of the rudder to the quarters. They are hung slack.

  Chain-plates. Plates of iron bolted to the side of a ship, to which the chains and dead-eyes of the lower rigging are connected.

  Channels. Broad pieces of plank bolted edgewise to the outside of a vessel. Used for spreading the lower rigging. (See Chains.)

  Cheeks. The projections on each side of a mast, upon which the trestle-trees rest. The sides of the shell of a block.

  Cheerly! Quickly, with a will.

  Chock. A wedge used to secure anything with, or for anything to rest upon. The long boat rests upon two large chocks, when it is stowed.Chock-a-block. When the lower block of a tackle is run close up to the upper one, so that you can hoist no higher. This is also called hoisting up two-blocks.

  Cleat. A piece of wood used in different parts of a vessel to belay ropes to.

  Clew. The lower corner of square sails, and the after corner of a fore-and-aft sail.To clew up, is to haul up the clew of a sail.

  Clewline. A rope that hauls up the clew of a square sail. The clew-garnet is the clewline of a course.

  Close-hauled. Applied to a vessel which is sailing with her yards braced up so as to get as much as possible to windward. The same as on a taut bowline, full and by, on the wind, &c.

  Clove-hook. An iron clasp, in two parts, moving upon the same pivot, and overlapping one another. Used for bending chain sheets to the clews of sails.

  Club-haul. To bring a vessel’s head round on the other tack, by letting go the lee anchor and cutting or slipping the cable.

  Clubbing. Drifting down a current with an anchor out.

  Coamings. Raised work round the hatches, to prevent water going down into the hold.

  Coat. Mast-coat is a piece of canvass, tarred or painted, placed round a mast or bowsprit, where it enters the deck.

  Codline. An eighteen thread line.

  Coxswain. (Pronounced cox’n.) The person who steers a boat and has charge of her.

  Coil. To lay a rope up in a ring, with one turn or fake over another. A coil is a quantity of rope laid up in that manner.

  Collar. An eye in the end or bight of a shroud or stay, to go over the mast-head.

  Companion. A wooden covering over the staircase to a cabin. Companion-way, the staircase to the cabin.

  Companion-ladder. The ladder leading from the poop to the main deck.

  Compass. The instrument which tells the course of a vessel.

  Crank. The condition of a vessel when she is inclined to lean over a great deal and cannot bear much sail. This may be owing to her construction or to her stowage.

  Cringle. A short piece of rope with each end spliced into the bolt-rope of a sail, confining an iron ring or thimble.

  Cross-bars. Round bars of iron, bent at each end, used as levers to turn the shank of an anchor.

  Cross-jack. (Pronounced croj-jack.) The cross-jack yard is the lower yard on the mizzen mast.

  Cross-trees. Pieces of oak supported by the cheeks and trestle-trees, at the mast-heads, to sustain the tops on the lower mast, and to spread the topgallant rigging at the topmast-head.

  Crown of an anchor, is the place where the arms are joined to the shank.To crown a knot, is to pass the strands over and under each other above the knot.

  Crutch. A knee or piece of knee-timber, placed inside of a vessel, to secure the heels of the cant-timbers abaft. Also, the chock upon which the spanker-boom rests when the sail is not set.

  Cuddy. A cabin in the fore part of a boat.

  Cut-water. The foremost part of a vessel’s prow, which projects forward of the bows.

  Cutter. A small boat. Also, a kind of sloop.

  Dagger. A piece of timber crossing all the puppets of the bilge-ways to keep them together.

  Davits. Pieces of timber or iron, with sheaves or blocks at their ends, projecting over a vessel’s sides or stern, to hoist boats up to. Also, a spar with a roller or sheave at its end, used for fishing the anchor, called a fish-davit.

  Dead-eye. A circular block of wood, with three holes through it, for the lanyards of rigging to reeve through, without sheaves, and with a groove round it for an iron strap.

  Dead-lights. Ports placed in the cabin windows in bad weather.

  Dead reckoning. A reckoning kept by observing a vessel’s courses and distances by the log, to ascertain her position.

  Dead-wood. Blocks of timber, laid upon each end of the keel, where the vessel narrows.

  Deck. The planked floor of a vessel, resting upon her beams.

  Deck-stopper. A stopper used for securing the cable forward of the windlass or capstan, while it is overhauled.

  Deep-sea-lead. (Pronounced dipsey.) The lead used in sounding at great depths.

  Departure. The easting or westing made by a vessel. The bearing of an object on the coast from which a vessel commences her dead reckoning.

  Dog. A short iron bar, with a fang or teeth at one end, and a ring at the other. Used for a purchase, the fang being placed against a beam or knee, and the block of a tackle hooked to the ring. Dog-vane. A small vane, made of feathers or buntin, to show the direction of the wind.

  Dog-watches. Half watches of two hours each, from 4 to 6, and from 6 to 8 P.M. (See Watch.)

  Dolphin. A rope or strap round a mast to support the puddening, where the lower yards rest in the slings. Also, a spar or buoy with a large ring in it, secured to an anchor, to which vessels may bend their cables.

  Douse. To lower suddenly.

  Downhaul. A rope used to haul down jibs, staysails, and studdingsails.

  Drabler. A piece of canvass laced to the bonnet of a sail, to give it more drop.

  Drag. A machine with a bag net, used for dragging on the bottom for anything lost.

  Draught. The depth of water which a vessel requires to float her.

  Draw. A sail draws when it is filled by the wind.To draw a jib, is to shift it over the stay to leeward, when it is aback.

  Drive. To scud before a gale, or to drift in a current.

  Drop. The depth of a sail, from head to foot, amidships.

  Drum-head. The top of the capstan.

  Duck. A kind of cloth, lighter and finer than canvass; used for small sails.

  Dunnage. Loose wood or other matters, placed on the bottom of the hold, above the ballast, to stow cargo upon.

  Elbow. Two crosses in a hawse.

  Escutcheon. The part of a vessel’s stern where her name is written.

  Even-keel. The situation of a vessel when she is so trimmed that she sits evenly upon the water, neither end being down more than the other.

  Eye. The circular part of a shroud or stay, where it goes over a mast.Eye-bolt. A long iron bar, having an eye at one end, driven through a vessel’s deck or side into a timber or beam, with the eye remaining out, to hook a tackle to. If there is a ring through this eye, it is called a ring-bolt.

  An Eye-splice is a certain kind of splice made with
the end of a rope.

  Eyelet-hole. A hole made in a sail for a cringle or roband to go through.

  The Eyes of a vessel. A familiar phrase for the forward part.

  Facing. Letting one piece of timber into another with a rabbet.

  Fair-leader. A strip of board or plank, with holes in it, for running rigging to lead through. Also, a block or thimble used for the same purpose.

  Fake. One of the circles or rings made in coiling a rope.

  Fall. That part of a tackle to which the power is applied in hoisting.

  Fancy-line. A line rove through a block at the jaws of a gaff, used as a downhaul. Also, a line used for cross-hauling the lee topping-lift.

  Fast. A rope by which a vessel is secured to a wharf. There are bow or head, breast, quarter, and stern fasts.

  Fathom. Six feet.

  Feather. To feather an oar in rowing, is to turn the blade horizontally with the top aft as it comes out of the water.

  Fenders. Pieces of rope or wood hung over the side of a vessel or boat, to protect it from chafing. The fenders of a neat boat are usually made of canvass and stuffed.

  Fid. A block of wood or iron, placed through the hole in the heel of a mast, and resting on the trestle-trees of the mast below. This supports the mast. Also, a wooden pin, tapered, used in splicing large ropes, in opening eyes, &c.

  Fiddle-block. A long shell, having one sheave over the other, and the lower smaller than the upper.

  Fife-rail. The rail going round a mast.

  Figure-head. A carved head or full-length figure, over the cut-water.

  Filler. (See Made mast.)

  Finishing. Carved ornaments of the quarter-galley, below the second counter, and above the upper lights.

  Flat. A sheet is said to be hauled flat, when it is hauled down close.Flat-aback, when a sail is blown with its after surface against the mast.

  Fleet. To come up a tackle and draw the blocks apart, for another pull, after they have been hauled two-blocks.

  Fleet ho! The order given at such times. Also, to shift the position of a block or fall, so as to haul to more advantage.

  Flemish-eye. A kind of eye-splice.

  Flemish-horse. An additional foot-rope at the ends of topsail yards.

  Floor timbers. Those timbers of a vessel which are placed across the keel.

  Flowing sheet. When a vessel has the wind free, and the lee clews eased off.

  Flukes. The broad triangular plates at the extremity of the arms of an anchor, terminating in a point called the bitt.

  Foot. The lower end of a mast or sail. (See Fore-foot.)

  Foot-rope. The rope stretching along a yard, upon which men stand when reeling or furling, formerly called horses.

  Fore. Used to distinguish the forward part of a vessel, or things in that direction; as, fore mast, fore hatch, in opposition to aft or after.

  Fore-and-aft. Lengthwise with the vessel. In opposition to athwart-ships.

  Forecastle. That part of the upper deck forward of the fore mast; or, as some say, forward of the after part of the fore channels. Also, the forward part of the vessel, under the deck, where the sailors live, in merchant vessels.

  Fore-foot. A piece of timber at the forward extremity of the keel, upon which the lower end of the stem rests.

  Fore-ganger. A short piece of rope grafted on a harpoon, to which the line is bent.

  Fore-lock. A flat piece of iron, driven through the end of a bolt, to prevent its drawing.

  Fore mast. The forward mast of all vessels.

  Fore-runner. A piece of rag, terminating the stray-line of the log-line.

  Foul anchor. When the cable has a turn round the anchor.

  Founder. A vessel founders, when she fills with water and sinks.

  Freshen. To relieve a rope, by moving its place; as, to freshen the nip of a stay, is to shift it, so as to prevent its chafing through.To freshen ballast, is to alter its position.

  Furl. To roll a sail up snugly on a yard or boom, and secure it.

  Futtock-timbers. Those timbers between the floor and naval timbers, and the top-timbers. There are two—the lower, which is over the floor, and the middle, which is over the naval timber. The naval timber is sometimes called the ground futtock.

  Gaff. A spar, to which the head of a fore-and-aft sail is bent.

  Gangway. That part of a vessel’s side, amidships, where people pass in and out of the vessel.

  Garboard-streak. The range of planks next the keel, on each side.

  Gaskets. Ropes or pieces of plaited stuff, used to secure a sail to the yard or boom when it is furled. They are called a bunt, quarter , or yard arm gasket, according to their position on the yard.

  Gimblet. To turn an anchor round by its stock. To turn anything round on its end.

  Give way! An order to men in a boat to pull with more force, or to begin pulling. The same as, Lay out on your oars! or, Lay out!

  Glut. A piece of canvass sewed into the centre of a sail near the head. It has an eyelet-hole in the middle for the bunt-jigger or becket to go through.

  Goose-neck. An iron ring fitted to the end of a yard or boom, for various purposes.

  Grapnel. A small anchor with several claws, used to secure boats.

  Grappling irons. Crooked irons, used to seize and hold fast another vessel.

  Grating. Open lattice work of wood. Used principally to cover hatches in good weather.

  Gripe. The outside timber of the fore-foot, under water, fastened to the lower stem-piece. A vessel gripes when she tends to come up into the wind.

  Gripes. Bars of iron, with lanyards, rings and clews, by which a large boat is lashed to the ring-bolts of the deck. Those for a quarter-boat are made of long strips of matting, going round her and set taut by a lanyard.

  Grommet. A ring formed of rope, by laying round a single strand.

  Ground tackle. General term for anchors, cables, warps, springs, &c.; everything used in securing a vessel at anchor.

  Ground-tier. The lowest tier of casks in a vessel’s hold.

  Gunwale. (Pronounced gun-nel.) The upper rail of a boat or vessel.

  Guy. A rope attaching to anything to steady it, and bear it one way and another in hoisting.

  Gybe. (Pronounced jibe.) To shift over the boom of a fore-and-aft sail.

  Hail. To speak or call to another vessel, or to men in a different part of a ship.

  Halyards. Ropes or tackles used for hoisting and lowering yards, gaffs, and sails.

  Hammock. A piece of canvass, hung at each end, in which seamen sleep.

  Hand. To hand a sail is to furl it.Bear-a-hand; make haste.

  Lend-a-hand; assist.

  Hand-over-hand; hauling rapidly on a rope, by putting one hand before the other alternately.

  Hand-lead. A small lead, used for sounding in rivers and harbors.

  Handsomely. Slowly, carefully. Used for an order, as, “Lower handsomely!”

  Handspike. A long wooden bar, used for heaving at the windlass.

  Hanks. Rings or hoops of wood, rope, or iron, round a stay, and seized to the luff of a fore-and-aft sail.

  Harpings. The fore part of the wales, which encompass the bows of a vessel, and are fastened to the stem.

  Harpoon. A spear used for striking whales and other fish.

  Hatch, or Hatchway. An opening in the deck to afford a passage up and down. The coverings over these openings are also called hatches.Hatch-bar is an iron bar going across the hatches to keep them down.

  Haul. Haul her wind, said of a vessel when she comes up close upon the wind.

  Hawse. The situation of the cables before a vessel’s stem, when moored. Also, the distance upon the water a little in advance of the stem; as, a vessel sails athwart the hawse, or anchors in the hawse of another.Open hawse. When a vessel rides by two anchors, without any cross in her cables.

  Hawse-hole. The hole in the bows through which the cable runs.

  Hawse-pieces. Timbers through which the hawse-holes are cut.
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br />   Hawse-block. A block of wood fitted into a hawse-hole at sea.

  Hawser. A large rope used for various purposes, as warping, for a spring, &c.

  Head. The work at the prow of a vessel. If it is a carved figure, it is called a figure-head; if simple carved work, bending over and out, a billet-head; and if bending in, like the head of a violin, a fiddle-head. Also, the upper end of a mast, called a mast-head.

  Head-sails. A general name given to all sails that set forward of the fore-mast.

  Heave-to. To put a vessel in the position of lying-to. (See Lie-to.)

  Heel. The after part of the keel. Also, the lower end of a mast or boom. Also, the lower end of the stern-post.To heel, is to lie over on one side.

  Heeling. The square part of the lower end of a mast, through which the fid-hole is made.

  Helm. The machinery by which a vessel is steered, including the rudder, tiller, wheel, &c. Applied more particularly, perhaps, to the tiller.

  Helm-port. The hole in the counter through which the rudder-head passes.

  Helm-port-transom. A piece of timber placed across the lower counter, inside, at the height of the helm-port, and bolted through every timber, for the security of that port.

  High and dry. The situation of a vessel when she is aground, above water mark.

  Hog. A flat, rough broom, used for scrubbing the bottom of a vessel.

  Hold. The interior of a vessel, where the cargo is stowed.

  Holy-stone. A large stone, used for cleaning a ship’s decks.

  Home. The sheets of a sail are said to be home, when the clews are hauled chock out to the sheave-holes. An anchor comes home when it is loosened from the ground and is hove in toward the vessel.

  Hounds. Those projections at the mast-head serving as shoulders for the top or trestle-trees to rest upon.

  House. To house a mast, is to lower it about half its length, and secure it by lashing its heel to the mast below.

  Housing, or House-line. (Pronounced houze-lin.) A small cord made of three small yarns, and used for seizings.