"I will undertakeTo find the north passage to the Indies sooner,Than plough with your proud heifer."—Massinger.
NORTH SEA. The Jamaica name for the north swell. (SeeGround-sea.)
NORTH-WESTER. This wind in India usually commences or terminates with a violent gust from that quarter, with loud thunder and vivid lightning. Also, gales which blow from the eastern coast of North America in the Atlantic during the autumn and winter.
NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. By Hudson's Bay into the Pacific Ocean has been more than once attempted of late years, but hitherto without success. Some greatly doubted the practicability of such an enterprise; but the north-west passage, as far as relates to the flow of the sea beneath the ice, was satisfactorily solved by H.M.S.Investigator, Sir R. Maclure, reaching the western end of Barrow's Straits. The former question, up to Melville Island, which Sir R. Maclure reached and left his notice at in 1852, having been already thoroughly established by Sir E. Parry in 1820.
NORTH WIND. This wind in the British seas is dry and cold, andgenerally ushers in fair weather and clear skies. The barometer rises with the wind at north, and is highest at N.N.E.; the air forming this wind comes from colder latitudes, and has therefore lost most of its moisture.
NORWAY SKIFF. A particularly light and buoyant boat, which is both swift and safe in the worst weather.
NORWAY YAWL. This, of all small boats, is said to be the best calculated for a high sea; it is often met with at a distance from land, when a stout ship can hardly carry any sail. The parent of thepeter-boat.
NOSE. Often used to denote the stem of a ship. Also, a neck of land:naes, orness.
NOTARY. The person legally empowered to attest deeds, protests, or other documents, in order to render them binding.
NOTCH. The gaffle of a cross-bow.
NOTCH-BLOCK.SeeSnatch-block.
NOTCH-SIGHTof a Gun. A sight having aV-shaped notch, wherein the eye easily finds the lowest or central point.
NOTHING OFF! A term used by the man at the conn to the steersman, directing him to keep her close to the wind; or "nothing off, and very well thus!" (SeeThus.)
NOTIONS. An American sea-term for a cargo in sorts; thus a notion-vessel on the west coast of America is a perfect bazaar; but one, which sold a mixture—logwood, bad claret, and sugar—to the priests for sacrament wine had to run for it.
NOUD. A term in the north for fishes that are accounted of little value.
NOUP. A round-headed eminence.
NOUS. An old and very general term for intelligent perception, evidently from the Greek.
NOUST. A landing-place or indent into the shore for a boat to be moored in; a term of the Orkney Isles.
NOZZLE-FACES. Square plates of brass raised upon the cylinder; one round each of the steam-ports, for the valve-plates to slide upon.
NOZZLES. In steamers, the same as steam-ports; they are oblong passages from the nozzle-faces to the inside of the cylinder; by them the steam enters and returns above and below the piston. Also pump nozzles.
NUBECULÆ,Major and Minor. TheMagellanic clouds(which see).
NUCLEUSof a Comet. The condensed or star-like part of the head.
NUDDEE. A Hindostanee word for a river.
NUGGAR. A term in the East Indies for a fort, and also for an alligator.
NULLAH. A ravine or creek of a stream in India.
NUMBER. The number on the ship's books is marked on the clothing of seamen; that on a man's hammock or bag corresponds with his number on the watch and station bill. The ships of the royal navy are denoted by flags expressing letters, and when passing or nearing each other the names are exchanged by signals.—Losing the number of the mess, is a phrase for dying suddenly; being killed or drowned.
NUMERARYORMARRYAT'S SIGNALS. A useful code used by the mercantile marine, by an arrangement of flags from a cypher to units, and thence to thousands. (SeeSignals.)
NUN-BUOY. A buoy made of staves, somewhat in the form of a double cone; large in the middle, and tapering rapidly to the ends; the slinging of which is a good specimen of practical rigging tact.
NURAVEE YAWL. A corruption ofNorway yawl(which see).
NURSE. An able first lieutenant, who in former times had charge of a young boy-captain of interest, but possessing no knowledge for command. Also, a small kind of shark with a very rough skin; a dog-fish.
NUT. A small piece of iron with a female screw cut through the middle of it, for screwing on to the end of a bolt.
NUTATION. An oscillatory motion of the earth's axis, due chiefly to the action of the moon upon the spheroidal figure of our globe.
NUTSof an Anchor. Two projections either raised or welded on the square part of the shank, for securing the stock to its place.
NYCTALOPIA.SeeMoon-blink.
O. The fourth class of rating on Lloyd's books for the comparative excellence of merchant ships. But insured vessels are rarely so low. (SeeA.)
O!or Ho!An interjection commanding attention or possibly the cessation of any action.
OAK.Quercus, the valuable monarch of the woods. "Hearts of oak are our ships," as the old song says.
OAKUM [from the Anglo-Saxonæcumbe]. The state into which old ropes are reduced when they are untwisted and picked to pieces. It is principally used in caulking the seams, for stopping leaks, and for making into twice-laid ropes. Very well known in workhouses.—White Oakum.That which is formed from untarred ropes.
OAKUM-BOY. The caulker's apprentice, who attends to bring oakum, pitch, &c.
OAR. A slender piece of timber used as a lever to propel a boat through the water. The blade is dipped into the water, while the other end within board, termed the loom, is small enough to be grasped by the rower. Thesilver oaris a badge of office, similar to the staff of a peace-officer, which on presentation, enables a person intrusted with a warrant to serve it on board any ship he may set foot upon.—To boat the oars, is to cease rowing and lay the oars in the boat.—Get your oars to pass!The order to prepare them for rowing, or shipping them.
OAR,To Shove in an. To intermeddle, or give an opinion unasked.
OAR-PROPULSION. The earliest motive power for vessels; it may be by the broadside in rowlocks abeam, by sweeps on the quarters fore and aft, or by sculling with one oar in the notch of the transom amidships. (SeeStern-oar.)
OARS! The order to cease rowing, by lifting the oars from the water, and poising them on their looms horizontally in their rowlocks.—Look to your oars!Passing any object or among sea-weed.—Double-banked oars(which see).
OASIS. A fertile spot in the midst of a sandy desert.
OATH. A solemn affirmation or denial of anything, before a person authorized to administer the same, for discovery of truth and right. (SeeCorporal Oath.) Hesiod ascribes the invention of oaths to discord. The oath of supremacy and of the Protestant faith was formerly taken by an officer before he could hold a commission in the royal navy.
OAZE. Synonymous with the Ang.-Sax.wasewhen applied to mud. (SeeOoze.)
OBEY. A word forming the fulcrum of naval discipline.
OBI. A horrible sorcery practised among the negroes in the West Indies, the infliction of which by a threat from the juggler is sufficient to lead the denounced victim to mental disease, despondency, and death. Still the wretched trash gathered together for the obi-spell is not more ridiculous than the amulets of civilized Europe.
OBLATE. Compressed or flattened.
OBLIGATION. A bond containing a penalty, with a condition annexed for payment of money or performance of covenants.
OBLIMATION. The deposit of mud and silt by water.
OBLIQUE-ANGLED TRIANGLE. Any other than a right-angled triangle.
OBLIQUE ASCENSION. An arc between the first point of Aries and that point of the equator which comes to the horizon with a star, or other heavenly body, reckoned according to the order of signs. It is the sum or difference of the right ascension and ascensional difference.
OBLIQUE BEARINGS. Consist in determining the position of a ship, by observing with a compass the bearings of two or more objects on the shore whose places are given on a chart, and drawing lines from those places, so as to make angles with their meridians equal to the observed bearings; the intersection of the line gives on the chart the position of the ship. This is sometimes called the method of cross-bearings.
OBLIQUE SAILING. Is the reduction of the position of the ship from the various courses made good, oblique to the meridian or parallel of latitude. If a vessel sails north or south, it is simply a distance on the meridian. If east or west, on the parallel, and refers to parallel sailing. If oblique, it is solved by middle latitude, or Mercator sailing.
OBLIQUE STEP. A movement in marching, in which the men, while advancing, gradually take ground to the right or left.
OBLIQUITY OF THE ECLIPTIC. The angle between the planes of theecliptic and the equator, or the inclination of the earth's equator to the plane of her annual path, upon which the seasons depend: this amounts at present to about 23° 27′.
OBLONG SQUARE. A name improperly given to a parallelogram. (SeeThree-square.)
OBSERVATION. In nautical astronomy, denotes the taking the sun, moon, or stars' altitude with a quadrant or sextant, in order thereby to find the latitude or time; also, the lunar distances.
OBSERVE,To. To take a bearing or a celestial observation.
OBSIDIONAL CROWN. The highest ancient Roman military honour; the decoration of the chief who raised a siege.
OBSTACLES. Chains, booms, abattis, snags, palisades, or anything placed to impede an enemy's progress. Unforeseen hindrances.
OBTURATOR. A cover or valve in steam machinery.
OBTUSE ANGLE. One measuring above 90°, and therefore beyond a right angle; called by shipwrightsstanding bevellings.
OBTUSE-ANGLED TRIANGLE. That which has one obtuse angle.
OCCIDENT. The west.
OCCULTATION. One heavenly body eclipsing another; but in nautical astronomy it is particularly used to denote the eclipses of stars and planets by the moon.
OCCUPY,To. To take military possession.
OCEAN. This term, in its largest sense, is the whole body of salt water which encompasses the globe, except the collection of inland seas, lakes, and rivers: in a word, that glorious type of omnipotent power, whether in calm or tempest:—
"Dark, heaving, boundless, endless, and sublime,The image of Eternity."
In a more limited sense it is divided into—1. The Atlantic Ocean. 2. The Pacific Ocean. 3. The Indian Ocean. 4. The Southern Ocean.
OCEAN-GOING SHIP. In contradistinction to a coaster.
OCHRAS. A Gaelic term for the gills of a fish.
OCTAGON. A geometrical figure which has eight equal sides and angles.
ODHARAG. The name of the young cormorant in our northern isles.
OE. An island [from the Ang.-Sax.]Oesare violent whirlwinds off the Faeroe Islands, said at times to raise the water in syphons.
OFERLANDERS. Small vessels on the Rhine and the Meuse.
OFF. The opposite tonear. Also applied to a ship sailing from the shore into the open sea. Also, implies abreast of, or near, as "We were off Cape Finisterre."—Nothing off!The order to the helmsman not to suffer the ship to fall off from the wind.
OFFAL. Slabs, chips, and refuse of timber, sold in fathom lots at the dockyards.
OFF AND ON. When a ship beating to windward approaches the shore by one board, and recedes from it when on the other. Also used to denote an undecided person. Dodging off a port.
OFF AT A TANGENT. Going in a hurry, or in a testy humour.
OFF DUTY. An officer, marine, or seaman in his watch below, &c. An officer is sometimes put "off duty" as a punishment.
OFFENCES. Crimes which are not capital, but by the custom of the service come under the articles of war.
OFFICER. A person having some command. A term applied both in the royal and mercantile navies to any one of a ship's company who ranks above the fore-mast men.
OFFICER OF THE DAY. A military officer whose immediate duty is to attend to the interior economy of the corps to which he belongs, or of those with which he may be doing duty.
OFFICER OF THE WATCH. The lieutenant or other officer who has charge of, and commands, the watch.
OFFICERS' EFFECTS. The effects of officers who die on board are not generally sold; but should they be submitted to auction, the sale is to be confined entirely amongst the officers.
OFFICIAL LETTERS. All official letters which are intended to be laid before the commander-in-chief, must be signed by the officers themselves, specifying their rank under their signatures. All applications from petty officers, seamen, and marines, relative to transfer, discharge, or other subjects of a similar nature, are to be made through the captain or commanding officer. They ought to be written on foolscap paper, leaving a margin, to the left hand, of one-fourth of the breadth, and superscribed on the cover "On H. M. Service."
OFFING. Implies to sea-ward; beyond anchoring ground.—To keep a good offing, is to keep well off the land, while under sail.
OFF-RECKONING. A proportion of the full pay of troops retained from them, in special cases, until the period of final settlement, to cover various expected charges (for ship-rations and the like).
OFF SHE GOES! Means run away with the purchase fall. Move to the tune of the fifer. The first move when a vessel is launched.
OFF THE REEL. At once; without stopping. In allusion to the way in which the log-line flies off the reel when a ship is sailing fast.
OFFWARD. The situation of a ship which lies aground and leans from the shore; "the ship heels offward," and "the ship lies with her stern to the offward," is when her stern is towards the sea.
OGEE. In old-pattern guns, the doubly curved moulding added, by way of finish, to several of the rings.
OGGIDENT. Jack's corruption ofaguardiente[Sp.], a fiery and very unwholesome spirit.
OIL-BUTT. A name for the black whale.
OILLETS,or Œillets. Apertures for firing through, in the walls of a fort.
OITER. A Gaelic word still in use for a sand-bank.
OJANCO SNAPPER. A tropical fish of the Mesoprion family, frequenting the deep-water banks of the West Indies.
OKE. A Levant weight of 23⁄4lbs., common in Mediterranean commerce.
OLD COUNTRY. A very general designation for Great Britain among the Americans. The term is never applied to any part of the continent of Europe.
OLD HAND. A knowing and expert person.
OLD HORSE. Tough salt-beef.
OLD ICE. In polar parlance, that of previous seasons.
OLD-STAGER. One well initiated in anything.
OLD-STAGERISM. An adherence to established customs; sea conservatism.
OLDSTERS. In the old days of cockpit tyranny, mids of four years' standing, and master's-mates, &c., who sadly bullied the youngsters.
OLD WIFE. A fish about 2 feet long, and 9 inches high in the back, having a small mouth, a large eye, a broad dorsal fin, and a blue body. Also, the brown long-tailed duck of Pennant.
OLD WOMAN'S TOOTH. A peculiar chisel for stub morticing.
OLERON CODE. A celebrated collection of maritime laws, compiled and promulgated by Richard Cœur-de-Lion, at the island of Oleron, near the coast of Poitou, the inhabitants of which have been deemed able mariners ever since. It is reckoned the best code of sea-laws in the world, and is recorded in the black book of the admiralty.
OLICK. The torsk or tusk,Gadus callarias.
OLIVER. A west-country term for a young eel.
OLPIS. A classic term for one who, from a shore eminence, watched the course which shoals of fish took, and communicated the result to the fishers. (SeeConder.)
OMBRE. A fish, more commonly called grayling, orumber.
ON. The sea is said to be "on" when boisterous; as, there is a high sea on.
ON A BOWLINE. Close to the wind, when the sail will not stand without hauling the bowlines.
ONAGER. An offensive weapon of the middle ages.
ON A WIND. Synonymous withon a bowline.
ON BOARD. Within a ship; the same asaboard.
ONCIA. A gold coin of Sicily; value three ducats, or 10s.10d.sterling.
ONCIN. An offensive weapon of mediæval times, consisting of a staff with a hooked iron head.
ON DECK THERE! The cry to call attention from aloft or below.
ONE-AND-ALL. A mutinous sea-cry used in the Dutch wars. Also, a rallying call to put the whole collective force on together.
ON EITHER TACK. Any way or every way; a colloquialism.
ON END. The same asan-end(which see). Top-masts and topgallant-masts are on end, when they are in their places, and sail can be set on them.
ONE O'CLOCK.Like one o'clock.With speed; rapidly.
ONERARIÆ. Ancient ships of burden, with both sails and oars.
ONE, TWO, THREE! The song with which the seamen bowse out the bowlines; the last haul being completed by belay O!
ONION-FISH. TheCepola rubescens, whose body peels into flakes like that vegetable. It is of a pale red colour.
ON SERVICE. On duty.
ON-SHORE WINDS. Those which blow from the offing, and render bays uncomfortable and insecure.
ON THE BEAM. Implies any distance from a ship on a line with her beams, or at right angles with the keel.
ON THE BOW. At any angle on either side of the stem up to 45°; then it is either four points on the bow, or four points before the beam.
ON THE QUARTER. Being in that position with regard to a ship, as to be included in the angles which diverge from right astern, to four points towards either quarter.
OOMIAK. A light seal-skin Greenland boat, generally worked in fine weather by the women, but in bad weather by the men.
OPEN. The situation of a place which is exposed to the wind and sea. Also, applied in meteorology, to mild weather. Also, open to attack, not protected. Also, said of any distant visible object.
OPEN HAWSE. When a vessel rides by two anchors, without any cross in her cables.
OPEN ICE. Fragments of ice sufficiently separate to admit of a ship forcing or boring through them under sail.
OPENING TRENCHES. The first breaking of ground by besiegers, in order to carry on their approaches towards a besieged place.
OPEN LIST. One of a ship's books, which contains the whole of the names of the actual officers and crew, in order to regulate their victualling. The crew are mustered by the open list.
OPEN LOWER DECKERS,To. To fire the lower tier of guns. Also said of a person using violent language.
OPEN ORDER. Any distance ordered to be preserved among ships, exceeding a cable's length.
OPEN PACK. A body of drift ice, the pieces of which, though very near each other, do not generally touch. It is opposed to close pack.
OPEN POLICY. Where the amount of the interest of the insured is not fixed by the policy, but is left to be ascertained by the insured, in case a loss shall happen.
OPEN ROADSTEAD. A place of hazard, as affording no protection either from sea or wind.
OPERATIONS. Field movements, whether offensive or defensive.
OPHIUCHUS. One of the ancient constellations, of which the lucida isRas-al-ague, one of the selected nautical objects at Greenwich. This asterism is sometimes calledSerpentarius, its Latin name, instead of its Greek.
OPINION. An experienced witness, who never saw the ship, yet may legally prove that from the description of her by another witness she was not sea-worthy.
OPOSSUM-SHRIMP. A crustacean, so named from its young beingcarried about in a sort of pouch for some little time after being hatched; theMysis flexuosusof naturalists.
OPPIGNORATION. The pawning of part of the cargo to get money for the payment of the duty on the remainder.
OPPOSITE TACKS. Making contrary boards. Also, a colloquialism for cross purposes.
OPPOSITION. A celestial body is said to be in opposition to the sun when their longitudes differ 180°, or half the circumference of the heavens.
OPTICK. An old term for a magnifying-glass.
ORAGIOUS. An old term for stormy or tempestuous weather:—
"The storme was so outrageous,And with rumlings oragious,That I did feare."
ORAMBY. A sort of state-barge used in the Moluccas; some of them are rowed by 40, 80, or even, it is said, 100 paddles each.
ORARIÆ. Ancient coasting vessels.
ORB. The circular figure made by a body of troops.
ORBIT. The path described by a planet or comet round the sun.
ORBITAL. Relating to the orbit of a heavenly body.
ORC. Wrack or sea-weed, used as manure on some of the coasts of England.
ORCA. A classical name for a large voracious sea-animal, probably a grampus. Anglicized as ork or orc; thus in the second song of Drayton's strangePolyolbion—
"The ugly orks, that for their lord the ocean woo."
And Milton afterwards introduces them—
"An island salt and bare,The haunt of seals and orcs, and sea-mews clang."
ORDER ARMS! The word of command, with muskets or carbines, to bring the butt to the ground, the piece vertical against the right side, trigger-guard to the front.—Open orderandclose order, are terms for keeping the fleet prepared for any particular manœuvre.
ORDER-BOOK. A book kept for the purpose of copying such occasional successive orders as the admiral, or senior officer, may find it necessary to give.
ORDERLY. The bearer of official messages, and appointed to wait upon superior officers with communications.
ORDERLY OFFICER. In the army.SeeOfficer of the Day.
ORDER OF BATTLE. The arranging of ships or troops so as to engage the enemy to the best advantage.
ORDER OF SAILING.SeeSailing, Order of.
ORDERS. Societies of knights. (SeeKnighthood.)
ORDERS IN COUNCIL. Decrees given by the privy council, signed by the sovereign, for important state necessities, independently of any act of parliament; but covered by an act of indemnity when it is assembled.
ORDINARY. The establishment of the persons formerly employed to take charge of the ships of war which are laid up in ordinary at severalharbours adjacent to the royal dockyards. These duties are now under the superintendent of the dockyard. Also, the state of such men-of-war and vessels as are out of commission and laid up.
ORDINARY SEAMAN. The rating for one who can make himself useful on board, even to going aloft, and taking his part on a top-sail or topgallant-yard, but is not a complete sailor, the latter being termed an able seaman. It would be well if our merchant seamen consisted of apprentices and A.B.'s.
ORDINARY STEP. The common march of 110 paces in a minute.
ORDNANCE. A general name for all sorts of great guns which are used in war. Also, all that relates to the artillery and engineer service.
ORDNANCE-HOY. A sloop expressly fitted for transporting ordnance stores to ships, and from port to port.
OREILLET. The ear-piece of a helmet.
OREMBI. A smallkorocora(which see).
ORGUES. Long-pointed beams shod with iron, hanging vertically over a gateway, to answer as a portcullis in emergency.
ORIENT. The east point of the compass.
ORIFLAMME. The banner of St. Dennis; but the term is often applied to the flags of any French commander-in-chief.
ORIGIN. Merchant ships claiming benefit for importation, must obtain and produce certificates oforigin, in respect to the goods they claim for. (SeeProduction.)
ORIGINAL ENTRY. The date at which men enter for the navy, and repair on board a guard-ship, or tender, where bedding or slops may be supplied to them, and are forwarded with them to their proper ships.
ORILLON. In fortification, a curved projection formed by the face of a bastion overlapping the end of the flank; intended to protect the latter from oblique fire; modern ricochet fire renders it of little consequence.
ORION. One of the ancient constellations, of which the lucida is the well-known nautical starBetelgeuze.
ORISONT. The horizon; thus spelled by our early navigators.
ORLOP. The lowest deck, formerly called "over-lop," consisting of a platform laid over the beams in the hold of ships of war, whereon the cables were usually coiled, and containing some cabins as well as the chief store-rooms. In trading vessels it is often a temporary deck.
ORLOP-BEAMS,or Hold-beams. Those which support the orlop-deck, but are chiefly intended to fortify the hold.
ORNAMENTS. The carvings of the head, stern, and quarters of the old ships.
ORNITHÆ. An ancient term for the periodical winds by which migratory birds were transported.
ORTHODROMIC. The course which lies on a meridian or parallel.
ORTHOGRAPHIC PROJECTION. The profile, or representation of a vertical section, of a work in fortification.
ORTIVE AMPLITUDE. The eastern one.
OSCILLATING MARINE-ENGINE. A steam-engine where the top of the piston-rod is coupled with the crank, and the piston-rod moves backward and forward in the direction of the axis of the cylinder, while its extremity revolves in a circle with the crank.
OSCILLATING PUMP-SPEAR. A contrivance by which the pumps of a large vessel are worked, connected with a crank-shaft and fly-wheel, driven by handles in the same way as a winch.
OSMOND. The old term for pig-iron; a great article of lading.
OSNABURG. In commerce, a coarse linen cloth manufactured in Scotland, but resembling that made at Osnaburg in Germany.
OSPREY. The fish-hawk,Pandion haliætus; Shakspeare, inCoriolanus, says—
"I think he'll be to RomeAs is the osprey to the fish."
OS SEPIÆ. The commercial term for the sepia, or cuttle-fish bones.
OSTMEN. A corrupted form ofHoastmen.
OTSEGO BASS.Coregonus otsego, a fish of the American lakes.
OTTER-PIKE. The lesser weever,Trachinus draco; also called sea-stranger.
OTTOMITES. An old term for Turks. See Shakspeare inOthello.
OUNDING. Resembling or imitating waves; used by Chaucer and others.
OUSTER LE MER. The legal term for excuse, when a man did not appear in court on summons, for that he was then beyond the seas.
OUT-AND-OUTER. An old phrase signifying thorough excellence; a man up to his duty, and able to perform it in style.
OUT-BOARD. The outside of the ship: the reverse ofin-board.
OUT-BOATS. The order to hoist out the boats.
OUT-EARING CLEAT. This is placed on the upper side of the gaff, to pass the outer earing round from the cringle.
OUTER-JIB. In sloops, where the head-sails are termed foresail-jib and outer-jib, if set from the foremast-head. It is now very common forshipsto set two standing jibs, the stay and tack of the inner one being secured at the middle of the jib-boom.
OUTER TURNSand Inner Turns. Theouter turnsof the earing serve to extend the sail outwards along its yard. Theinner turnsare employed to bind the sail close to the yard.
OUTFIT. The stores with which a merchant vessel is fitted out for any voyage. Also, the providing an individual with clothes, &c.
OUT-FLANK,To. By a longer front, to overlap the enemy's opposite line, and thus gain a chance to turn his flank.
OUT-HAUL,or Out-hauler. A rope used for hauling out the tack of a jib lower studding-sail, or the clue of a boom-sail. The reverse ofin-haul.
OUT-HOLLING. Clearing tide-ports, canals, and channels of mud.
OUTLANDISH. Foreign; but means with Jack a place where he does not feel at home, or a language which he does not understand.
OUTLET. The effluent or stream by which a lake discharges its water. Also applied to the spot where the efflux commences.
OUT-LICKER. A corruption ofout-rigger(which see).
OUT-LIER. A word which has been often used forout-rigger, but applies to outlying rocks, visible above water.
OUT-OARS. The order to take to rowing when the sails give but little way on a boat.
OUT OF COMMISSION. A ship where officers and men are paid off, and pennant hauled down.
OUT OF TRIM. A ship not properly balanced for fast sailing, which may be by a defect in the rigging or in the stowage of the hold.
OUT OF WINDING. Said of a plank or piece of timber which has a fair and even surface without any twists: the opposite ofwinding.
OUT OR DOWN. An exclamation of the boatswain, &c., in ordering men out of their hammocks,i.e.turn out, or your laniard will be cut.
OUT-PENSIONERS. Those entitled to pensions from Greenwich Hospital, but not admitted to "the house."
OUT-PORTS. Those commercial harbours which lie on the coasts; all ports in the United Kingdom out of London. (SeeClose-ports.)
OUTREGANS. Canals or ditches navigable by boats.
OUT-RIGGER. A strong beam, of which there are several, passed through the ports of a ship, and firmly lashed at the gunwale, also assisted by guys from bolts at the water-line, to secure the masts in the act of careening, by counteracting the strain they suffer from the tackles on the opposite side. Also, any boom rigged out from a vessel to hang boats by, clear of the ship, when at anchor. Also, any spar, as the boomkin, for the fore-tack, or the jigger abaft to haul out the mizen-sheet, or extend the leading blocks of the main braces. Also, a small spar used in the tops and cross-trees, to thrust out and spread the breast backstays to windward. Also, a counterpoising log of wood, rigged out from the side of a narrow boat or canoe, to prevent it from being upset.
OUT-SAIL,To. To sail faster than another ship, or to make a particular voyage with greater despatch.
OUTSIDE MUSTER-PAPER. A paper with the outer part blank, but the inner portion ruled and headed; supplied from the dock yards to form the cover of ships' books.
OUTSIDE PLANKING. Such are the wales, the plank-sheer, the garboard-strakes, and the like.
OUTWARD. A vessel is said to be entered outwards or inwards according as she is entered at the custom-house to depart for, or as having arrived from, foreign parts.
OUTWARD CHARGES. Pilotage and other dues incurred from any port: the reverse ofinward charges.
OUTWORKS. Works included in the scheme of defence of a place, but outside the main rampart; if "detached," they are moreover outside the glacis.
OUVRE L'ŒIL. A mark on French charts over supposed dangers.
OVERANDUNDER TURNS. Terms applied to the passing of an earing, besides its inner and outer turns.
OVER-ANENT. Opposite to.
OVER-BEAR. One ship overbears another if she can carry more sail in a fresh wind.
OVERBOARD. The state of any person or thing in the sea which had been in a ship.—Thrown overboardalso means cast adrift by the captain; withdrawal of countenance and support.
OVER-BOYED. Said of a ship when the captain and majority of the quarter-deck officers are very young.
OVERFALL. A rippling or race in the sea, where, by the peculiarities of bottom, the water is propelled with immense force, especially when the wind and tide, or current, set strongly together. (SeeRipps.)
OVER-GUNNED. Where the weight of metal is disproportioned to the ship, and the quarters insufficient for the guns being duly worked.
OVERHAND KNOT. Is made by passing the end of a rope over its standing part, and through the bight.
OVERHAUL. Has many applications. A tackle when released is overhauled. To get a fresh purchase, ropes are overhauled. To reach an object, or take off strain, weather-braces are overhauled. A ship overhauls another in chase when she evidently gains upon her. Also, overhauls a stranger and examines her papers. Also, is overhauled, or examined, to determine the refit demanded.
OVER-INSURANCE.SeeRe-insurance, andDouble Insurance.
OVERLAP. A designation of the hatches of a ship; planks in clinch-built boats. Points of landoverlapa harbour's mouth at a particular bearing.—To overlap, to fay upon.
OVERLAY DAYS. Days for which demurrage can be charged.
OVER-LOFT. An old term for the upper deck of a ship.
OVER-LOOKER. Generally an old master appointed by owners of ships to look after everything connected with the fitting out of their vessels when in harbour in England.
OVER-MASTED. The state of a ship whose masts are too high or too heavy for her weight to counter-balance.
OVER-PRESS,To. To carry too much sail on a ship.
OVER-RAKE. When a ship rides at anchor in a head-sea, the waves of which frequently break in upon her, they are said to over-rake her.
OVER-RIGGED. A ship with more and heavier gear than necessary, so as to be top-hampered.
OVER-RISEN. When a ship is too high out of the water for her length and breadth, so as to make a trouble of lee-lurches and weather-rolls. Such were our 80-gun three-deckers and 44's on two decks, happily now no more.
OVER-RUNNING. (SeeUnder-run.) Applied to ice, when the young ice overlaps, and is driven over.
OVER-SEA VESSELS. Ships from foreign parts, as distinguished from coasters.
OVER-SETTING. The state of a ship turning upside down, either by carrying too much sail or by grounding, so that she falls on one side. (SeeUpset.)
OVERSHOOT,To. To give a ship too much way.
OVERSLAUGH. From the Dutchoverslag, meaning the bar of a river or port. Also, in military parlance, the being passed over in the roster for some recurring duty without being assigned to it in turn.
OVER-SWACK. An old word, signifying the reflux of the waves by the force of the wind.
OVERWHELM. A comprehensive word derived from the Ang.-Saxonwylm, a wave. Thus the old song—