WABBLE, To [from the Teutonic wabelen]. To reel confusedly, as waves on a windy day in a tide-way. It is a well-known term among mechanics to express the irregular motion of engines or turning-lathes when loose in their bearings, or otherwise out of order. A badly stitched seam in a sail is wabbled. It is also applied to the undulation of the compass-card when the motion of the vessel is considerable and irregular.

WAD. A kind of plug, closely fitting the bore of a gun, which is rammed home over the shot to confine it to its place, and sometimes also between the shot and the cartridge: generally made of coiled junk, otherwise a rope grommet, &c.

WADE, To. An Anglo-Saxon word, meaning to pass through water without swimming. In the north, the sun was said to wade when covered by a dense atmosphere.

WAD-HOOK. An iron tool shaped like a double cork-screw on the end of a long staff, for withdrawing wads or charges from guns; called also a worm.WADMAREL. A hairy, coarse, dark-coloured stuff of the north, once in great demand for making pea-jackets, pilot-coats, and the like.WAFT [said to be from the Anglo-Saxon weft], more correctly written wheft. It is any flag or ensign, stopped together at the head and middle portions, slightly rolled up lengthwise, and hoisted at different positions at the after-part of a ship. Thus, at the ensign-staff, it signifies that a man has fallen overboard; if no ensign-staff exists, then half-way up the peak. At the peak, it signifies a wish to speak; at the mast-head, recalls boats; or as the commander-in-chief or particular captain may direct.

WAFTORS. Certain officers formerly appointed to guard our coast fisheries. Also, swords blunted to exercise with.

WAGER POLICY. An engagement upon interest or no interest; the performance of the voyage in a reasonable time and manner, and not the bare existence of the ship or cargo, is the object of insurance.

WAGES OR PAY of the Royal Navy is settled by act of parliament. In the merchant service seamen are paid by the month, and receive their wages at the end of the voyage.WAGES REMITTED FROM ABROAD. When a ship on a foreign station has been commissioned twelve calendar months, every petty officer, seaman, and marine serving on board, may remit the half of the pay due to them to a wife, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, or sister.

WAGGON. A place amidships, on the upper deck of guard-ships, assigned for the supernumeraries' hammocks.

WAGGONER. A name applied to an atlas of charts, from a work of this nature published at Leyden in 1583, by Jans Waghenaer.

WAIF. Goods found and not claimed; derelict. Also used for waft.

WAIST. That portion of the main deck of a ship of war, contained between the fore and main hatchways, or between the half-deck and galley.

WAIST-ANCHOR. An additional or spare anchor stowed before the chess-tree. (See Spare Anchor.)

WAIST-BOARDS. The berthing made to fit into a vessel's gangway on either side.

WAIST-CLOTHS. The painted canvas coverings of the hammocks which are stowed in the waist-nettings.

WAISTERS. Green hands, or worn seamen, in former times stationed in the waist in working the ship, as they had little else of duty but hoisting and swabbing the decks.

WAIST-NETTINGS. The hammock-nettings between the quarter-deck and forecastle.

WAIST-RAIL. The channel-rail or moulding of the ship's side.

WAIST-TREE. Another name for rough-tree (which see).

WAIVE, To. To give up the right to demand a court-martial, or to enforce forfeitures, by allowing people who have deserted, &c., to return to their duties.

WAIVING. The action of dispensing with salutes—by signal, by motion of the hand to guards, &c., and to vessels, which may be, in accordance with old custom, passing under the lee to be hailed and examined.

WAIVING AMAIN. A salutation of defiance, as by brandishing weapons, &c.WAKE. The transient, generally smooth, track impressed on the surface-water by a ship's progress. Its bearing is usually observed by the compass to discover the angle of lee-way. A ship is said to be in the wake of another, when she follows her upon the same track. Two distant objects observed at sea are termed in the wake of each other, when the view of the farthest off is intercepted by the one that is nearer. (See Crossing a Ship's Wake.)

WALE-REARED. Synonymous with wall-sided.

WALES. The thickest strakes of wrought stuff in a vessel. Strong planks extending all along the outward timbers on a ship's side, a little above her water-line; they are synonymous with bends (which see). The channel-wale is below the lower-deck ports, and the main-wale between the top of those ports and the sills of the upper-deck ports.

WALK AWAY! The order to step out briskly with a tackle fall, as in hoisting boats.

WALK BACK! A method in cases where a purchase must not be lowered by a round turn, as "Walk back the capstan;" the men controlling it by the bars and walking back as demanded.

WALKER'S KNOT. See Matthew Walker.

WALKING A PLANK. An obsolete method of destroying people in mutiny and piracy, under a plea of avoiding the penalty of murder. The victim is compelled to walk, pinioned and blindfolded, along a plank projecting over the ship's side, which, canting when overbalanced, heaves him into the sea. Also, for detecting whether a man is drunk, he is made to walk along a quarter-deck plank.

WALKING AWAY WITH THE ANCHOR. Said of a ship which is dragging, or shouldering, her anchor; or when, from fouling the stock or upper fluke, she trips the anchor out of the ground.

WALKING SPEAKING-TRUMPET. A midshipman repeating quarter-deck orders.

WALK SPANISH, To. To quit duty without leave; to desert.

WALK THE QUARTER-DECK, To. A phrase signifying to take the rank of an officer.

WALK THE WEATHER GANGWAY NETTING. A night punishment in a man-of-war for those of the watch who have missed their muster.

WALL. A bank of earth to restrain the current and overflowing of water. (See Sea-bank.)WALL-KNOT, or Wale-knot. A particular sort of large knot raised upon the end of a rope, by untwisting the strands, and passing them among each other.

WALL-PIECE. A very heavy powerful musket, for use in fortified places.WALL-SIDED. The sides of a ship continuing nearly perpendicular down to the surface of the water, like a wall. It is the mean between tumbling home and flaring out.WALRUS [Dan. hval-ros]. The Trichecus rosmarus, a large amphibious marine animal, allied to the seals, found in the Arctic regions. Its upper canines are developed into large descending tusks, of considerable value as ivory. It is also called morse, sea-horse, and sea-cow. This animal furnished Cook, as well as our latest Arctic voyagers, with Arctic beef. The skin is of the utmost importance to the Esquimaux, as well as to the Russians of Siberia, &c.

WALT. An old word, synonymous with crank; or tottering, like a sprung spar.

WANE. In timber, an imperfection implying a want of squareness at one or more of its corners; under this deficiency it is termed wane-wood.

WANE-CLOUD. See Cirro-stratus.

WANGAN. A boat, in Maine, for carrying provisions.

WANY. Said of timber when spoiled by wet.

WAPP, OR WHAP. A name formerly given to any short pendant and thimble, through which running-rigging was led. Also, a rope wherewith rigging was set taut with wall-knots, one end being fast to the shroud, and the other brought to the laniard. But any shroud-stopper is a wapp.

WAR. A contest between princes or states, which, not being determinable otherwise, is referred to the decision of the sword. It may exist without a declaration on either side, and is either civil, defensive, or offensive.

WAR-CAPERER. A privateer.

WARDEN. See Lord Warden.WARD-ROOM. The commissioned officers' mess-cabin, on the main-deck in ships of the line.

WARD-ROOM OFFICERS. Those who mess in the ward-room, namely: the commander, lieutenants, master, chaplain, surgeon, paymaster, marine-officers, and assistant-surgeons.

WARE, To. See Veer.WAREHOUSING SYSTEM. The use of bonding places under charge of officers of the customs, in which goods may be deposited, without any duty upon them being exacted, until they be cleared for home use, or for exportation.

WAR ESTABLISHMENT. Increased force of men and means.

WARM-SIDED. Mounting heavy metal, whether a ship or a fort.

WARNER. A sentinel formerly posted on the heights near sea-ports to give notice of the approach of vessels. Also, beacons, posts, buoys, lights, &c., warning vessels of danger by day as well as by night.

WARNING-SIGNAL. Hoisted to warn vessels not to pass a bar. Also, to warrant higher pay to watermen plying between Portsmouth and Spithead, &c., according to severity of weather.WARP. A rope or light hawser, employed occasionally to transport a ship from one place to another in a port, road, or river. Also, an east-coast term for four herrings. Also, land between the sea-banks and the sea.—Warp of lower rigging. A term used in the rigging-loft, as, before cutting out a gang of rigging, it is warped. Also, to form the warp of spun-yarn in making sword-mats for the rigging-gripes, slings, &c.—To warp. To move a vessel from one place to another by warps, which are attached to buoys, to other ships, to anchors, or to certain fixed objects on shore. Also, to flood the lands near rivers in Yorkshire.WARPING AND FRAMING THE TIMBERS. Putting in the beam-knees, coamings, &c., and dividing the spaces between the beams for fitting the carlines.

WARPING-BLOCK. A block made of ash or elm, used in rope-making for warping off yarn.WARRANT. A writ of authority, inferior to a commission; in former days it was the name given to the deed conferring power on those officers appointed by the navy board, while those granted by the admiralty were styled commissions. Also, a document, under proper authority, for the assembling of a court-martial, punishment, execution, &c. Also, a tabulated regulation for cutting standing and running rigging, as well as for supply of general stores, as warranted by the admiralty.—Brown-paper warrants. Those given by a captain, and which he can cancel.

WARRANT-OFFICER. Generally one holding his situation from particular boards, or persons authorized by the sovereign to grant it. In the royal navy it was an officer holding a warrant from the navy board, as the master, surgeon, purser, boatswain, gunner, carpenter, &c. In the year 1831, when the commissioners of the navy, or navy board, were abolished, all these powers reverted to the admiralty, but the commissions and warrants remain in effect the same.WARRANTY. The contract of marine insurance, expressing a certain condition on the part of the insured, upon which the contract is to take effect; it is always a part of the written policy, and must appear on the face of it. In this it differs from representation (which see).

WARREN-HEAD. A northern term for a dam across a river.

WAR-SCOT. A contribution for the supply of arms and armour, in the time of the Saxons.

WAR-SHIP. Any ship equipped for offence and defence; whereas man-of-war generally signifies a vessel belonging to the royal navy.

WARTAKE. An archaic term for a rope-fast, or spring. In that early sea-song (temp. Henry VI.) which is in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge, the skipper of the ship carrying a cargo of "pylgryms" exclaims, "Hale in the wartake!"

WARTH. An old word signifying a ford. Also, a flat meadow close to a stream.

WASH. An accumulation of silt in estuaries. Also, a surface covered by floods. Also, a shallow inlet or gulf: the east-country term for the sea-shore. Also, the blade of an oar. Also, a wooden measure of two-thirds of a bushel, by which small shell-fish are sold at Billingsgate, equal to ten strikes of oysters.—Wash, or a-wash. Even with the water's edge.

WASH-BOARD, OR WASH-STRAKE. A movable upper strake which is attached by stud-pins on the gunwales of boats to keep out the spray. Wash-boards are also fitted on the sills of the lower-deck ports for the same purpose.

WASH-BOARDS. A term for the white facings of the old naval uniform.

WASHERMAN. A station formerly for an old or otherwise not very useful person on board a man-of-war.

WASHERS. Leather, copper, lead, or iron rings interposed at the end of spindles, before a forelock or linch-pin, to prevent friction, or galling the wood, as of a gun-truck. Also used in pump-gear.WASHING-PLACE. In 1865, baths and suitable washing-places were fitted for personal use in the ships of the royal navy. Both hot and cold water are supplied. Shades of Drake, Frobisher, and Raleigh, think of that!

WASHING THE HAND. A common hint on leaving a ship disliked.

WASH-WATER. A ford.WATCH. The division of the ship's company into two parties, one called the starboard, and the other the larboard or port watch, alluding to the situation of their hammocks when hung up; these two watches are, however, separated into two others, a first and second part of each, making four in all. The crew can also be divided into three watches. The officers are divided into three watches, in order to lighten their duty; but it is to be borne in mind that the watch may sleep when their services are not demanded, whereas it is a crime, liable to death, for an officer to sleep on his watch. In a ship of war the watch is generally commanded by a lieutenant, and in merchant ships by one of the mates. The word is also applied to the time during which the watch remains on deck, usually four hours, with the exception of the dog-watches.—Anchor-watch. A quarter watch kept on deck while the ship rides at single anchor, or remains temporarily in port.—Dog-watches. The two reliefs which take place between 4 and 8 o'clock P.M., each of which continues only two hours, the intention being to change the turn of the night-watch every twenty-four hours.—First watch. From 8 P.M. till midnight.—Middle-watch. From midnight till 4 A.M.—Morning-watch. From 4 to 8 A.M.—Watch is also a word used in throwing the deep-sea lead, when each man, on letting go the last turn of line in his hand, calls to the next abaft him, "Watch, there, watch!" A buoy is said to watch when it floats on the surface of the water.

WATCH AND WATCH. The arrangement of the crew in two watches.

WATCH-BILL. The pocket "watch and station bill," which each officer is expected to produce if required, and instantly muster the watch, or the men stationed to any specific duty.

WATCHET. A light blue, or sky-coloured cloth worn formerly by English sailors, especially by the boats' crews of men-of-war.

WATCH-GLASSES. The half-hour glasses employed to measure the periods of the watch, so that the several stations therein may be regularly kept and relieved, as at the helm, pump, look-out, &c. (See Glass.)

WATCHING A SMOOTH. Looking for a temporary subsidence of the waves of a head-sea, previous to easing down the helm, in tacking ship.

WATCH-SETTING. In the army, retreat, or the time for mounting the night-guards.WATCH-TACKLE. A small luff purchase with a short fall, the double block having a tail to it, and the single one a hook. Used for various purposes about the decks, by which the watch can perform a duty without demanding additional men.

WATER, To. To fill the casks or tanks; to complete water.

WATERAGE. The charge for using shore-boats.

WATER-BAILIFF. An officer in sea-port towns for the searching of vessels.

WATER-BALLAST. Water when used to stiffen a ship, whether carried in casks, tanks, bags, or otherwise. The iron screw-colliers of the present day have immense tanks constructed in their floors, on the upper part of which the coals rest; when they are discharged, the tanks are allowed to fill with water, which acts as ballast for the return voyage, and is pumped out by the engine as the coals are taken in.

WATER-BARK. A small decked vessel or tank, used by the Dutch for carrying fresh water.

WATER-BATTERY. One nearly on a level with the water—À fleur d'eau; a position of much power when vessels cannot get close to it.

WATER-BEWITCHED. Bad tea, geo-graffy, 5-water grog, and the like greatly diluted drinks.

WATER-BORNE. When a ship just floats clear of the ground. Also, goods carried by sea, or on a river.

WATER-CROW. The lesser cormorant, or shag.

WATER-DOG. See Water-gall.

WATER-FLEAS. The groups of crustaceous organisms classed as Entomostraca.

WATER-GAGE. A sea wall or bank. Also, an instrument to measure the depth of inundations.WATER-GALL. A name of the wind-gall (which see). Shakspeare, in the Rape of Lucrece, uses the term thus:—

WATER-GAVEL. A rent paid for fishing in some river, or other benefit derived therefrom.

WATER-GUARD. Custom-house officers employed to prevent fraud on the revenue in vessels arriving at, or departing from, a port.

WATER HIS HOLE. A saying used when the cable is up and down, to encourage the men to heave heartily, and raise the shank of the anchor so that the water may get down by the shank, and relieve the anchor of the superincumbent mud.

WATER-HORSE. Cod-fish stacked up in a pile to drain, under the process of cure.

WATER-LAID ROPE. The same as cablet; it coils against the sun, or to the left hand.WATER-LINE. In former ships of war, a fine white painted line or bend, representing the deep line of flotation, on the coppered edge.—Load water-line. That which the surface of the water describes on a ship when she is loaded or ready for sea.

WATER-LINE MODEL. The same as key-model (which see).WATER-LOGGED. The state of a ship full of water, having such a buoyant cargo that she does not sink. In this dangerous and unmanageable situation there is no resource for the crew except to free her by the pumps, or to abandon her by taking to the boats; for the centre of gravity being no longer fixed, the ship entirely loses her stability, and is almost totally deprived of the use of her sails, which may only operate to accelerate her destruction by over-setting her, or pressing her head under water. Timber-laden vessels, water-logged, frequently float for a very long period.

WATER-PADS. Fellows who rob ships and vessels in harbours and rivers.

WATER-PLOUGH. A machine formerly used for taking mud and silt out of docks and rivers.

WATER-SAIL. A save-all, or small sail, set occasionally under the lower studding-sail or driver-boom, in a fair wind and smooth sea.

WATER-SCAPE. A culvert, aqueduct, or passage for water.

WATER-SHED. A term introduced into geography to denote the dividing ridges in a hilly country. In geology, it implies that the water is shed thence naturally, by the inclination, to the valley base. As regards nautical men in search of water, it is therefore expedient to look for the depressed side of the strata.

WATER-SHOT, or Quarter-shot. When a ship is moored, neither across the tide, nor right up and down, but quartering between both.

WATER-SHUT. An old name for a flood-gate.

WATER-SKY. In Arctic seas, a dark and dull leaden appearance of the atmosphere, the reflected blue of the sea indicating clear water in that direction, and forming a strong contrast to the pale blink over land or ice.

WATER-SNAKES. A group of snakes (Hydrophis), whose habitat is the sea. Some of them are finely coloured, and generally very like land-snakes, except that their tails are broader, so as to scull or propel them through the water.

WATER-SPACE. The intervening part between the flues of a steamer's boiler.WATER-SPOUT. A large mass of water collected in a vertical column, and moving rapidly along the surface of the sea. As contact with one has been supposed dangerous, it has been suggested to fire cannon at them, to break the continuity by aËrial concussion. In this phenomenon, heat and electricity seem to take an active part, but their cause is not fully explained, and any facts respecting them by observers favourably placed will help towards further researches into their nature. (See Whirlwind.)

WATER-STANG. A spar or pole fixed across a stream.

WATER-STEAD. An old name for the bed of a river.

WATER-STOUP. A northern name for the common periwinkle.

WATER-TAKING. A pond, the water of which is potable.

WATER-TANKS. See Tank.

WATER-TIGHT. Well caulked, and so compact as to prevent the admission of water. The reverse of leaky.

WATER-WAYS. Certain deck-planks which are wrought next to the timbers; they serve to connect the sides of a ship to her decks, and form a channel to carry off any water by means of scuppers.

WATER-WAR. A name for the bore or hygre of the Severn.

WATER-WITCH. A name of the dipper.

WATER-WRAITH. Supposed water-spirits, prognosticating evil, in the Shetland Islands.

WATH. A passage or ford through a river.

WATTLES. A kind of hair or small bristles near the mouth and nostrils of certain fish. Also, hurdles made by weaving twigs together.

WAVE [from the Anglo-Saxon wÆg]. A volume of water rising in surges above the general level, and elevated in proportion to the wind.

WAVESON. Such goods as after shipwreck appear floating on the waves. (See Flotsam.)WAVING. Signals made by arm or otherwise to a vessel to come near or keep off.WAY. Is sometimes the same as the ship's rake or run, forward or backward, but is most commonly understood of her sailing. Way is often used for wake. Thus when she begins her motion she is said to be under way; and when that motion increases, to have fresh-way through the water. Hence, also, she is said to have head-way or stern-way, to gather way or to lose way, &c. (See Wind's-way.)—Gangway, means a clear space to pass. The gangway is the side space between the forecastle and quarter-deck.

'WAY ALOFT! or 'Way up! The command when the crew are required aloft to loose, reef, furl sails, or man yards, &c.

WAY-GATE. The tail-race of a mill.

WAYS. Balks laid down for rolling weights along.—Launching-ways. Two parallel platforms of solid timber, one on each side of the keel of a vessel while building, and on which her cradle slides on launching.

WEAL. A wicker basket used for catching eels.

WEAR. See Weir.—To wear. (See Veer.)

WEAR AND TEAR. The decay and deterioration of the hull, spars, sails, ropes, and other stores of a ship in the course of a voyage.

WEATHER [from the Anglo-Saxon wÆder, the temperature of the air]. The state of the atmosphere with regard to the degree of wind, to heat and cold, or to dryness and moisture, but particularly to the first. It is a word also applied to everything lying to windward of a particular situation, hence a ship is said to have the weather-gage of another when further to windward. Thus also, when a ship under sail presents either of her sides to the wind, it is then called the weather-side, and all the rigging situated thereon is distinguished by the same epithet. It is the opposite of lee. To weather anything is to go to windward of it. The land to windward, is a weather shore.

WEATHER-ANCHOR. That lying to windward, by which a ship rides when moored.

WEATHER-BEAM. A direction at right angles with the keel, on the weather side of the ship.

WEATHER-BITT. Is that which holds the weather-cable when the ship is moored.

WEATHER-BOARD. That side of the ship which is to windward.

WEATHER-BOARDS. Pieces of plank placed in the ports of a ship when laid up in ordinary; they are in an inclined position, so as to turn off the rain without preventing the circulation of air.

WEATHER-BORNE. Pressed by wind and sea.

WEATHER-BOUND. Detained by foul winds; our forefathers used the term wÆder fÆst.

WEATHER-BREEDERS. Certain appearances in the heavens which indicate a gale, as wind-galls, fog-dogs, &c.

WEATHER-CLOTHS. Coverings of painted canvas or tarpaulin, used to preserve the hammocks when stowed, from injury by weather.

WEATHER-COIL. When a ship has her head brought about, so as to lie that way which her stern did before, as by the veering of the wind; or the motion of the helm, the sails remaining trimmed.

WEATHER-COILING. A ship resuming her course after being taken aback; rounding off by a stern-board, and coming up to it again.

WEATHER-EYE. "Keep your weather-eye open," be on your guard; look out for squalls.

WEATHER-GAGE. A vessel has the weather-gage of another when she is to windward of her. Metaphorically, to get the weather-gage of a person, is to get the better of him.

WEATHER-GALL:—

(See Wind-gall.)

WEATHER-GLASS. A familiar term for the barometer.

WEATHER-GLEAM. A peculiar clear sky near the horizon, with great refraction.

WEATHER-GO. The end of a rainbow, as seen in the morning in showery weather.

WEATHER-HEAD. The secondary rainbow.

WEATHER-HELM. A ship is said to carry a weather-helm when she is inclined to gripe, or come too near the wind, and therefore requires the helm to be kept constantly a little to windward.

WEATHER-LURCH. A heavy roll to windward.

WEATHERLY. Said of a well-trimmed ship with a clean bottom, when she holds a good wind, and presents such lateral resistance to the water, that she makes but little lee-way while sailing close-hauled.

WEATHER ONE'S DIFFICULTIES, To. A colloquial phrase meaning to contend with and surmount troubles.

WEATHER-ROLLS. Those inclinations, so inviting to coming waves, which a ship makes to windward in a heavy sea; the sudden rolls which she makes to leeward being termed lee-lurches.

WEATHER-ROPES. An early term for those which were tarred.

WEATHER-SHEETS. Those fast to the weather-clues of the sails.—"Haul over the weather-sheets forward," applies to the jib when a vessel has got too close to the wind and refuses to answer her helm.

WEATHER-SHORE. The shore which lies to windward of a ship.

WEATHER-SIDE. That side of a ship on which the wind blows; it is the promenade for superior officers. (See also its synonym Windward.)

WEATHER THE CAPE, To. To become experienced; as it implies sailing round Cape Horn, or the Cape of Good Hope.WEATHER-TIDE. The reverse of lee-tide. That which, running contrary to the direction of the wind, by setting against a ship's lee-side while under sail, forces her up to windward.

WEATHER-WARNING. The telegraphic cautionary warning given by hoisting the storm-drum on receiving the forecast.

WEATHER-WHEEL. The position of the man who steers a large ship, from his standing on the weather-side of the wheel.

WEAVER. One of the popular names of the fish Trachinus vipera.

WEDGE [from the Anglo-Saxon wege]. A simple but effective mechanical force; a triangular solid on which a ship rests previous to launching. Many of the wedges used in the building and repairing of vessels are called sett-wedges.

WEDGE-FIDS. For top and top-gallant masts; in two parts, lifting by shores and sett-wedges. (See Setting-up.)

WEDGE-SHAPED GULF. One which is wide at its entrance, and gradually narrows towards its termination, as that of California.

WEDGING UP. Gaining security by driving wedges.

WEED, To. To clear the rigging of stops, rope-yarns, and pieces of oakum.

WEEKLY ACCOUNT. A correct return of the whole complement made every week when in harbour to the senior officer. Also, a sobriquet for the white patch on a midshipman's collar.

WEEL. A kind of trap-basket, or snare, to catch fish, made of twigs and baited; contrived similarly to a mouse-trap, so that fish have a ready admittance, but cannot get out again.

WEEPING. The oozing of water in small quantities through the seams of a ship.

WEEVIL [from the Anglo-Saxon wefl]. Curculio, a coleopterous insect which perforates and destroys biscuit, wood, &c.

WEFT. See Waft.

WEIGH, To [from the Anglo-Saxon woeg]. To move or carry. Applied to heaving up the anchor of a ship about to sail, but also to the raising any great weight, as a sunken ship, &c.

WEIGHAGE. The charge made for weighing goods at a dock.

WEIGH-SHAFT. In the marine-engine, the same as wiper-shaft.

WEIGHT-NAILS. Somewhat similar to deck-nails, but not so fine, and with square heads; for fastening cleats and the like.WEIGHT OF METAL. The weight of iron which the whole of the guns are capable of projecting at one round from both sides when single-shotted. (See Broadside Weight.)WEIR. An old word for sea-weed. Also, a fishing inclosure; and again, a dam, or strong erection across a river, to divert its course.

WELD, To. To join pieces of iron or other metal by placing in contact the parts heated almost to fusion, and hammering them into one mass.

WELKIN [from, the Anglo-Saxon, weal can]. The visible firmament.

WELL [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.

WELL, or Trunk of a Fishing-vessel. A strong compartment in the middle of the hold, open to the deck, but lined with lead on every side, and having the bottom perforated with small holes through the floor, so that the water may pass in freely, and thus preserve the fish alive which are put into it. Lobster-boats are thus fitted.

WELL-CABINS. Those in brigs and small vessels, which have no after-windows or thorough draught.

WELL-END. See Pump-foot.

WELL FARE YE, MY LADS! An exclamation of approbation to the men at a hard heave or haul.

WELL FOUND. Fully equipped.

WELL-GROWN. A term implying that the grain of the wood follows the shape required, as in knee-timber and the like.

WELL OFF, To. A mode of shutting off a leak by surrounding it by timbers screwed home through the lining to the timbers, and carrying up this trunk, like a log-hut, above the water-line.

WELL-ROOM of a Boat. The place in the bottom where the water lies, between the ceiling and the platform of the stern-sheets, from whence it is baled into the sea.

WELL THERE, BELAY! Synonymous with that will do.

WELSHMAN'S BREECHES. See Dutchman's Breeches.

WEND A COURSE, To. To sail steadily on a given direction.WENDING. Bringing the ship's head to an opposite course. Turning as a ship does to the tide.

WENTLE. An old term signifying to roll over.

WENTLE-TRAP. The Scalaria pretiosa, a very elegant univalve shell, much valued by collectors.WEST-COUNTRY PARSON. A fish, the hake (Gadus merluccius), is so called, from a black streak on its back, and from its abundance along our western coast.

WESTER, or Waster. A kind of trident used for striking salmon in the north.

WESTING. This term in navigation means the distance made by course or traverses to the westward; or the sun after crossing the meridian.

WESTWARD [Anglo-Saxon weste-wearde].—Westward-hoe. To the west! It was one of the cries of the Thames watermen.

WEST WIND. This and its collateral, the S.W., prevail nearly three-fourths of the year in the British seas, and though boisterous at times, are very genial on the whole.WET. The owners and master of a ship are liable for all damage by wet. (See Stowage.)

WET-BULB THERMOMETER. One of which the bulb is kept moist by the capillary attraction of cotton fibres from an attached reservoir.

WET-DOCK. A term used for float (which see), and also dock.

WETHERS. The flukes or hands of a harpoon.

WETTING A COMMISSION. Giving an entertainment to shipmates on receiving promotion.

WHALE. A general term for various marine animals of the order Cetacea, including the most colossal of all animated beings. From their general form and mode of life they are frequently confounded with fish, from which, however, they differ essentially in their organization, as they are warm-blooded, ascend to the surface to breathe air, produce their young alive, and suckle them, as do the land mammalia. The cetacea are divided into two sections:—1. Those having horny plates, called baleen, or "whalebone," growing from the palate instead of teeth, and including the right whales and rorquals, or finners and hump-backs (see these terms). 2. Those having true teeth and no whalebone. To this group belong the sperm-whale, and the various forms of bottle-noses, black-fish, grampuses, narwhals, dolphins, porpoises, &c. To the larger species of many of these the term "whale" is often applied.

WHALE-BIRD. A beautiful little bird seen hovering in flocks over the Southern Ocean, in search of the small crustaceans which constitute their food.

WHALE-BOAT. A boat varying from 26 to 56 feet in length, and from 4 to 10 feet beam, sharp at both ends, and admirably adapted to the intended purpose, combining swiftness of motion, buoyancy, and stability.

WHALE-CALF. The young whale.

WHALE-FISHERIES. The places at which the capture of whales, or "whale-fishery," is carried on. The principal are the coasts of Greenland and Davis Straits, for the northern right whale; Bermuda, for hump-backs; the Cape of Good Hope and the Australian seas, for the southern right whale; the North Pacific, for the Japanese right whale; and various places in the intertropical and southern seas, for the sperm-whale. But the constant persecution to which these animals are subjected causes a frequent change in their habitats. They have been nearly exterminated, or rendered so scarce as not to be worth following, in many districts where they formerly most abounded, and in order to make the trade remunerative, new grounds have to be continually sought. Maury's "whale charts" give much valuable information on this subject.

WHALER. A name for a vessel employed in the whale-fisheries.

WHALE'S FOOD. The name given in the North Sea to the Clio borealis, a well-known mollusk, on which whales feed.

WHANGERS, or Cod-whangers. Fish-curers of Newfoundland. An old term for a large sword.

WHAPPER. The largest of the turtle kind, attaining 7 or 8 cwts., off Ascension. [The name is supposed to be derived from guapa, Sp., grand or fine.] (See Loggerhead.)WHARF, or Quay. An erection of wood or stone raised on the shore of a road or harbour for the convenience of loading or discharging vessels by cranes or other means. A wharf is of course built stronger or slighter in proportion to the effort of the tide or sea which it is intended to resist, and the size of vessels using it.—Wharf, in hydrography, is a scar, a rocky or gravelly concretion, or frequently a sand-bank, as Mad Wharf in Lancashire, where the tides throw up dangerous ripples and overfalls.

WHARFAGE DUES. The dues for landing or shipping goods at a wharf; customs charges in particular. Thus for goods not liable to duty, and forcibly taken for examination, wharfage charges are demanded even from a ship of war!

WHARFINGER. He who owns or keeps a wharf and takes account of all the articles landed thereon or removed from it, for which he receives a certain fee.

WHARF-STEAD. A ford in a river.

WHAT CHEER, HO? Equivalent among seamen to, How fare ye?

WHAT SHIP IS THAT? A question often put when a jaw-breaking word has been intrusively uttered by savants.

WHAT WATER HAVE YOU? The question to the man sounding, as to the depth of water which the lead-line gives.WHAUP. The larger curlew, Numenius arquatus.

WHEAT. An excellent article for sea-diet; boiled with a proportion of molasses, it makes a most nutritious breakfast. As it stows well, and would even yield nearly the same weight in bread, it should be made an article of allowance.

WHEEL. A general name for the helm, by which the tiller and rudder are worked in steering the ship; it has a barrel, round which the tiller-ropes or chains wind, and a wheel with spokes to assist in moving it.

WHEEL AND AXLE. A well-known mechanical power, to which belong all turning or wheel machines, as cranes, capstans, windlasses, cranks, &c.

WHEEL-HOUSE. A small round-house erected in some ships over the steering-wheel for the shelter of the helmsman.

WHEEL-LOCK. A small machine attached to the old musket for producing sparks of fire.

WHEEL-ROPES. Ropes rove through a block on each side of the deck, and led round the barrel of the steering-wheel. Chains are also used for this purpose.

WHEELS. See Trucks.WHEFT. More commonly written waft (which see). Although wheft is given in the official signal-book, bibliophilists ignore the term.

WHELK. A well-known shell-fish, Buccinum undatum.WHELPS. The brackets or projecting parts which rise out of the barrel or main body of the capstan, like buttresses, to enlarge the sweep, so that a greater portion of the cable, or whatever rope encircles the barrel, may be wound about it at one turn without adding much to the weight of the capstan. The whelps reach downwards from the lower part of the drumhead to the deck. The pieces of wood bolted on the main-piece of a windlass, or on a winch, for firm holding, and to prevent chafing, are also called whelps.

WHERE AWAY? In what bearing? a question to the man at the mast-head to designate in what direction a strange sail lies.

WHERRY. A name descended from the Roman horia, the oare of our early writers. It is now given to a sharp, light, and shallow boat used in rivers and harbours for passengers. The wherries allowed to ply about London are either scullers worked by one man with two sculls, or by two men, each pulling an oar. Also, a decked vessel used in fishing in different parts of Great Britain and Ireland: numbers of them were notorious smugglers.

WHETHER OR NO, TOM COLLINS. A phrase equivalent to, "Whether you will or not, such is my determination, not to be gainsaid."

WHICH WAY DOES THE WIND LIE? What is the matter?

WHIFF. The Rhombus cardina, a passable fish of the pleuronect genus. Also, a slight fitful breeze or transient puff of wind.

WHIFFING. Catching mackerel with a hook and line from a boat going pretty fast through the water.

WHIFFLERS. The old term for fifers, preceding the body of archers who cleared the way, but more recently applied to very trifling fellows. Smollett named Captain Whiffle in contempt.WHIMBREL. The smaller species of curlew, Numenius phÆopus.

WHIMSEY. A small crane for hoisting goods to the upper stories of warehouses.

WHINYARD. A sort of hanger, serving both as a weapon and a knife. An archaism for a cutlass. See the Gentleman in the Cobler of Canterburie, 1590:—

WHIP. A single rope rove through a single block to hoist in light articles. Where greater and steadier power is demanded, a block is added, and the standing part is made fast near the upper block. Thus it becomes a double whip.—To whip. To hoist by a whip. Also, to tie twine, whipping fashion, round the end of a rope to prevent its untwisting.

WHIP, or Whip-staff. A strong staff fastened into the helm for the steersman to move the rudder thereby.

WHIP-JACK. An old term, equivalent to fresh-water sailor, or a sham-shipwrecked tar. (See Turnpike-sailors.)

WHIPPERS. Men who deliver the cargoes of colliers in the river Thames into lighters.WHIPPING-TWINE. Used to whip the ends of ropes.

WHIP-RAY. A ray with a long tail ending in a very fine point. It is armed with a dangerous serrated spine, jagged like a harpoon. Called also sting-ray and stingaree.

WHIP-SAW. The largest of that class of useful instruments, being that generally used at the saw-pit.

WHIP UPON WHIP. A sort of easy purchase, much used in colliers. It consists of one whip applied to the falls of another.

WHIRL, or Rope-winch. Small hooks fastened into cylindrical pieces of wood which communicate by a leather strap with a spoke-wheel, whereby three of them are set in motion at once. Used for spinning yarn for ropes. Now more commonly made of iron.

WHIRLER, or Troughton's Top. An ingenious instrument invented by Troughton, and intended to serve as an artificial horizon at sea; but it was found that its centrifugal force was incapable of counteracting the ordinary motion of a ship.

WHIRLPOOL. An eddy or vortex where the waters are continually rushing round. In rivers they are very common, from various accidents, and are usually of little consequence. In the sea they are more dangerous, as the classical Charybdis, and the celebrated Maelstrom and Saltenstrom, both on the coast of Norway.WHIRLWIND. A revolving current of wind of small diameter that rises suddenly, but is soon spent.

WHISKERS. Two booms, half-yards, or iron spars projecting on each side before the cat-heads; they are for spreading the guys of the jib-boom, instead of having a spritsail-yard across. In many vessels the sprit-sail (then termed spread-yard) is lashed across the forecastle so as to rest before the cat-heads on the gunwale, and the guys rove through holes bored in it, and set up in the fore-channels.WHISTLE. From the Ang.-Sax. wistl. (See Call.)

WHISTLE FOR THE WIND, To. A superstitious practice among old seamen, who are equally scrupulous to avoid whistling during a heavy gale.—To wet one's whistle. To take a drink. Thus Chaucer tells us that the miller of Trumpington's lady had

WHISTLING PSALMS TO THE TAFFRAIL. Expending advice to no purpose.

WHITE BAIT OR BITE. The Clupea alba, a well-known fish caught in the Thames, but strictly a sea-fish, erroneously held to be mere fry till 1828, when Yarrell raised it to the rank of a perfect fish.

WHITE BOOT-TOP. A painted white line carried fore and aft on the hammock-netting base. It gives a longer appearance to a ship.WHITE CAPS. Waves with breaking crests, specially between the east end of Jamaica and Kingston; but obtaining generally when the sea-breeze, coming fresh over the waves, and travelling faster, turns their tops: termed also white-horses.WHITE FEATHER. The figurative symbol of cowardice: a white feather in a cock's tail being considered a proof of cross-breeding.

WHITE-FISH. A fish of the salmon family, found in the lakes of North America; also a name of the hard-head (which see). It is a general name for ling, cod, tusk, haddock, halibut, and the like, and for roach, dace, &c., from the use of their scales to form artificial pearls. Also applied to the beluga or white whale (Beluga leucas), a cetacean found in the Arctic seas and the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It is from 12 to 15 feet long.

WHITE-HERRING. A pickled herring in the north, but in other parts a fresh herring is so called.WHITE-HORSE. A name of the Raia fullonica. (See also White Caps.)

WHITE-LAPPELLE. A sobriquet for a lieutenant, in allusion to his former uniform. (See Lappelle.)

WHITE-ROPE. Rope which has not been tarred. Manilla, coir, and some other ropes, do not require tarring.WHITE SQUALL. A tropical wind said to give no warning; it sweeps the surface with spoon-drift.

WHITE-TAPE. A term amongst smugglers for hollands or gin.

WHITE-WATER. That which is seen over extensive sandy patches, where, owing to the limpidity and shallowness of the sea, the light of the sky is reflected.

WHITING. The name given in Cumberland to the Salmo albus, or white salmon. Also the Gadus merlangus, both split or dried.

WHITTLE [from the Anglo-Saxon hwytel]. A knife; also used for a sword, but contemptuously.—To whittle. To cut sticks.

WHITWORTH GUN. A piece rifled by having a twisted hexagonal bore, and throwing a more elongated shot with a sharper twist than the Armstrong gun, with results experimentally more beautiful, but not yet so practically useful.

WHO COMES THERE? The night challenge of a sentry on his post.

WHOLE-MOULDING. The old method of forming the principal part of a vessel. Boats are now the only vessels in which this method is practised.

WHOLESOME SHIP. One that will try, hull, and ride well, without heavy labouring in the sea.

WHOODINGS. Those ends of planks which are let into the rabbets of the stem, the stern-posts, &c. (See Rabbet and Hood-ends.)

WHO SAYS AMEN? Who will clap on with a will?

WHO SHALL HAVE THIS? An impartial sea method of distributing the shares of short commons. One person turns his back on the portions, and names some one, when he is asked, "Who shall have this?"

WICH. A port, as Harwich, Greenwich, &c.

WICK [Anglo-Saxon wyc]. A creek, bay, or village, by the side of a river.

WICKET. A small door in the gate of a fortress, for use by foot-passengers when the gate is closed.WIDDERSHINS. A northern term signifying a motion contrary to the course of the sun. The Orkney fishermen consider themselves in imminent danger at sea, if, by accident, their vessel is turned against the sun.

WIDE-GAB. A name of the Lophius piscatorius, toad-fish, or fishing-frog.

WIDOWS' MEN. Imaginary sailors, formerly borne on the books as A.B.'s for wages in every ship in commission; they ceased with the consolidated pay at the close of the war. The institution was dated 24 Geo. II. to meet widows' pensions; the amount of pay and provisions for two men in each hundred was paid over by the paymaster-general of the navy to the widows' fund.

WILD. A ship's motion when she steers badly, or is badly steered. A wild roadstead implies one that is exposed to the wind and sea.

WILDFIRE. A pyrotechnical preparation burning with great fierceness, whether under water or not; it is analogous to the ancient Greek fire, and is composed mainly of sulphur, naphtha, and pitch.

WILD-WIND. An old term for whirlwind.

WILL, With a. With all zeal and energy.

WILL. A term on our northern shores for a sea-gull.

WILLICK. A northern name for the Fratercula arctica, or puffin.

WILLIE-POURIT. A northern name for the seal.

WILLIWAW. A sort of whirlwind, occurring in Tierra del Fuego.

WILLOCK. A name for the guillemot, Uria troile.

WIMBLE. The borer of a carpenter's centre-bit.

WINCH [from the Anglo-Saxon wince]. A purchase formed by a shaft whose extremities rest in two channels placed horizontally or perpendicularly, and furnished with cranks, or clicks, and pauls. It is employed as a purchase by which a rope or tackle-fall may be more powerfully applied than when used singly. A small one with a fly-wheel is used for making ropes and spun-yarn. Also, a support to the windlass ends. Also, the name of long iron handles by which the chain-pumps are worked. Also, a small cylindrical machine attached to masts or bitts in vessels, for the purpose of hoisting anything out of the hold, warping, &c.

WINCH-BITTS. The supports near their ends.WIND [precisely the Anglo-Saxon word]. A stream or current of air which may be felt. The horizon being divided into 32 points (see Compass), the wind which blows from any of them has an assignable name.

WINDAGE. The vacant space left between a shot and the bore of the piece to which it belongs, generally expressed by the difference of their diameters; it is for facility of loading, but the smaller it is the better will be the performance of the gun.

WIND AND WATER LINE. That part of a ship lying at the surface of the water which is alternately wet and dry by the motion of the waves.

WIND A SHIP OR BOAT, To. To change her position by bringing her stern round to the place where the head was. (See Wending.)

WIND AWAY, To. To steer through narrow channels.

WIND-BANDS. Long clouds supposed to indicate bad weather.

WIND-BOUND. Detained at an anchorage by contrary winds.

WIND-FALL. A violent gust of wind rushing from coast-ranges and mountains to the sea. Also, some piece of good luck, a turtle, fish, vegetables, or a prize.

WIND-GAGE. See Anemometer.WIND-GALL. A luminous halo on the edge of a distant cloud, where there is rain, usually seen in the wind's eye, and looked upon as a sure precursor of stormy weather. Also, an atmospheric effect of prismatic colours, said likewise to indicate bad weather if seen to leeward.

WINDING A CALL. The act of blowing or piping on a boatswain's whistle, to communicate the necessary orders. (See Call.)

WINDING-TACKLE. A tackle formed of one fixed triple three-sheaved block, and one double or triple movable block. It is principally used to hoist any weighty materials, as the cannon, into or out of a ship.

WINDING-TACKLE PENDANT. A strong rope made fast to the lower mast-head, and forming the support of the winding-tackle.

WIND IN THE TEETH. Dead against a ship.WINDLASS [from the Ang.-Sax. windles]. A machine erected in the fore-part of a ship which serves to ride by, as well as heave in the cable. It is composed of the carrick-heads or windlass-heads, which are secured to all the deck-beams beneath, and backed by long sleeper knees on deck. The main-piece is whelped like the capstan, and suspended at its ends by powerful spindles falling into metal bearings in the carrick or windlass heads. Amidships it is supported by chocks, where it is also furnished with a course of windlass-pawls, four taking at separate angles on a main ratchet, and bearing on one quadrant of the circumference. The cables have three turns round this main-piece (one cable on each side): holes are cut for the windlass-bars in each eighth of the squared sides. The windlass may be said also to be supported or reinforced by the pawl-bitts, two powerful bitt-heads at the centre.—Spanish windlass. A machine formed of a handspike and a small lever, usually a tree-nail, or a tree-nail and a marline-spike, to set up the top-gallant rigging, heave in seizings, or for any other short steady purchase.WINDLASS-BITTS. See Carrick-bitts.

WINDLASS-CHOCKS. Those pieces of oak or elm fastened inside the bows of small craft, to support the ends of the windlass.

WINDLASS-ENDS. Two pieces which continue the windlass outside the bitt-heads.

WINDLASS-LINING. Pieces of hard wood fitted round the main-piece of a windlass to prevent chafing, and also to enable the cable to hold on more firmly.

WINDLESTRAY. A sort of bent or seaside grass.

WINDLIPPER. The first effects of a breeze of wind on smooth water, before waves are raised.

WIND-RODE. A ship is wind-rode when the wind overcomes an opposite tidal force, and she rides head to wind.WINDS. Local or peculiar.—Trade-winds occur within and beyond the tropical parallels. They are pretty regular in the North Atlantic, as far as 5° N., where calms may be expected, or the south-east trade may reach across, depending on the season; but when near land they yield to the land and sea breezes. Thus at 10° N. the land-breeze will be at E. from 11 P.M. until 6 A.M., then calm intervenes up to 10 A.M., when the sea-breeze sets in, probably W., and blows home fresh. Yet at 20 miles off shore the trade-wind may blow pretty strong from N.E. or E.N.E.—The harmattan is a sudden dry wind blowing off the coast of Africa, so charged with almost impalpable dust that the sun is obscured. It sucks up all moisture, cracks furniture and earthenware, and prostrates animal nature. The rigging of vessels becomes a dirty brown, and the dust adhering to the blacking cannot be removed.—The tornado lasts for a short time, but is of great force during its continuance.—The northers in the Gulf of Mexico, or off the Heads of Virginia, are not only very heavy gales, but are attended with severe cold. On a December day, off Galveston, the temperature in a calm was at sunset 86°. The norther came on about midnight, and at 8 A.M. the temperature had fallen to 12°, and icicles were hanging from the eaves of the houses. The Tiempo di Vendavales, or southers of Western America, is an opposite, blowing heavily home to the coast. The taifung of China, or typhoon of the Indian seas, is indeed precisely similar to the hurricane of the West Indies.

WIND-SAIL. A funnel of canvas employed to ventilate a ship by conveying a stream of fresh air down to the lower decks. It is suspended by a whip through the hatchways, and kept open by means of hoops; the upper part is also open on one side, and guyed to the wind. Ships of war in hot climates have generally three or four of these wind-sails.

WIND-TAUT. A vessel at anchor, heeling over to the force of the wind.

WIND-TIGHT. A cask or vessel to contain water is said to be wind-tight and water-tight.WINDWARD. The weather-side; that on which the wind blows; the opposite of leeward (which see). Old sailors exhort their neophytes to throw nothing over the weather-side except ashes or hot water: a hint not mistakable.

WINDWARD SAILING, or Turning to Windward. That mode of navigating a ship in which she endeavours to gain a position situated in the direction whence the wind is blowing. In this case progress is made by frequent tacking, and trimming sail as near as possible to the wind.

WINDWARD SET. The reverse of leeward set.

WINDWARD TIDE. See Weather-tide.

WINE OF HEIGHT. A former perquisite of seamen on getting safely through a particular navigation.

WING. The projecting part of a steamer's deck before and abaft each of the paddle-boxes, bounded by the wing-wale.

WING-AND-WING. A ship coming before the wind with studding-sails on both sides; also said of fore-and-aft vessels, when they are going with the wind right aft, the fore-sail boomed out on one side, and the main-sail on the other.

WINGERS. Small casks stowed close to the side in a ship's hold, where the large casks would cause too great a rising in that part of the tier.WINGS. Those parts of the hold and orlop-deck which are nearest to the sides. This term is particularly used in the stowage of the several materials contained in the hold, and between the cable-tiers and the ship's sides. In ships of war they are usually kept clear, that the carpenter and his crew may have access round the ship to stop shot-holes in time of action. Also, the skirts or extremities of a fleet, when ranged in a line abreast, or when forming two sides of a triangle. It is usual to extend the wings of a fleet in the daytime, in order to discover any enemy that may fall in their track; they are, however, generally summoned by signal to form close order before night. In military parlance, the right and left divisions of a force, whether these leave a centre division between them or not.—Wing-transom. The uppermost transom in the stern-frame, to which the heels of the counter-timbers are let on and bolted.

WING UP BALLAST, To. To carry the dead weight from the bottom as high as consistent with the stability of a ship, in order to ease her quick motion in rolling.WING-WALE. A thick plank extending from the extremity of a steamer's paddle-beam to her side; it is also designated the sponson-rim.

WINNOLD-WEATHER. An eastern-county term for stormy March weather.

WINTER-FISH. This term generally alludes to cured cod and ling.WINTER-QUARTERS. The towns or posts occupied during the winter by troops who quit the campaign for the season. Also, the harbour to which a blockading fleet retires in wintry gales. In Arctic parlance, the spot where ships are to remain housed during the winter months—from the 1st October to the 1st July or August.

WINTER-SOLSTICE. See Capricornus.WIPER. A cogged contrivance in machinery by which a rotatory motion is converted into a reciprocating motion.

WIPER-SHAFT. An application to the valve equipoise of a marine-engine: their journals or bearings lie in bushes, which are fixed upon the frame of the engine.

WIRE-MICROMETER. An instrument necessary for delicate astronomical measurements. It contains vertical and horizontal wires, or spider-lines, acting in front of a comb or scale for distances, and on a graduated circle on the screw-head for positions.

WIRE-ROPE. Rigging made of iron wire galvanized, and laid up like common cordage.

WISBUY LAWS. A maritime code which, though framed at a town in the now obscure island of Gothland, in the Baltic, was submissively adopted by Europe.WISHES [from the British usk, water]. Low lands liable to be overflowed.

WISHY-WASHY. Any beverage too weak. Over-watered spirits.

WITH. An iron instrument fitted to the end of a boom or mast, with a ring to it, through which another boom or mast is rigged out and secured. Also, in mechanics, the elastic withe handles of cold chisels, set-tools, &c., which prevent a jar to the assistant's wrist.

WITH A WILL. Pull all together.

WITHERSHINS. See Widdershins.

WITHEYS. Any low places near rivers where willows grow.

WITHIN-BOARD. Inside a ship.

WITHOUT. Outside, as, studding-sail without studding-sail; or, without board, outside a ship.

WITH THE SUN. Ropes coiled from the left hand towards the right; but where the sun passes the meridian north of the observer, it is of course the reverse.WITNESSES, or Temoins, are certain piles of earth left in digging docks, or other foundations, to judge how many cubic feet of earth have been removed.

WITTEE-WITTEE. The ingeniously-constructed fish-hook of the Pacific islanders, made of mother-of-pearl, with hair tufts, serving at once both as hook and bait.

WOARE. An old term for sea-weed. Also, the shore margin or beach.

WOBBLE, To. In mechanics, to sway or roll from side to side. (See Wabble.)

WOLD. An extensive plain, covered with grass and herbs, but bare of trees.

WOLF. A kind of fishing-net.WOLF-FISH. Anarhichas lupus, also called cat-fish. A fish of the northern seas, from 2 to 3 feet long, with formidable teeth, with which it crushes the shells of the crustaceans and mollusks on which it feeds.

WOLYING. The old way of spelling woolding.

WONDER-CHONE. An old term, mentioned by Blount as a contrivance for catching fish.

WONGS. A term on our east coast, synonymous with low lands or wishes (which see).

WOOD, To. A gun is said to wood when it takes the port-sills or port-sides, or the trucks the water-ways.—To wood. When wooding-parties are sent out to cut or procure wood for a ship.

WOOD AND WOOD. When two pieces of timber are so let into each other as to join close. Also, when a tree-nail is driven through, its point being even with the inside surface.

WOODEN BUOYS. Buoyant constructions of wood of various shapes, with a ring-bolt at each end, to which vessels can make fast for a time. (See Dolphin.)

WOOD-ENDS. See Hood-ends.

WOODEN WALLS. A term signifying the fleet, and though thought to be peculiarly English, was used by the Delphic oracle, when applied to by the Athenians on the Persian invasion: "Defend yourselves by wooden walls."

WOODEN-WINGS. The lee-boards, for keeping barges to windward.WOOD-LOCKS of the Rudder. Pieces of timber sheathed with copper, in coppered ships, placed in the throating or scores of the stern-post, to prevent the rudder from rising or unshipping.

WOOD-MULLS. Large thick hose worn by the men in coasters and fishing-boats.

WOOD-SHEATHING. All plank applied to strengthen a vessel. (See Double.)

WOOF. A northern name of the gray gurnard.

WOOLDERS. Bandages. The bolt of a Spanish windlass is called a woolder.

WOOLDING. The act of winding a piece of rope about a mast or yard, to support it where it is fished, or when it is composed of several pieces. Also, the rope employed in this service.

WOOL-PACKS. In meteorology, light clouds in a blue sky.WORD. The watch-word; the parole and countersign, which, being issued to the authorized persons at guard-mounting, become a test whereby spies or strangers are detected.

WORK, To. Said of a ship when she strains in a tempestuous sea, so as to loosen her joints.WORK ABACK. This is said of a steam-engine if reversed, to propel the vessel astern.

WORK A SHIP, To. To adapt the sails to the force and direction of the wind.WORK DOUBLE-TIDES, To. Implying that the work of three days is done in two, or at least two tides' work in twenty-four hours.

WORKING A DAY'S WORK. Reducing the dead-reckoning and meridian altitudes to noon of each day.WORKING A LUNAR. Reducing the observations of the sun and moon, or moon and stars, in order to find the longitude. Also, a phrase used when a man sleeps during a conversation.

WORKING AN OBSERVATION. Reducing the altitudes or distances of heavenly bodies by calculation.

WORKING PARTIES. Gangs of hands employed on special duties out of the ship or dockyard.

WORKING TO WINDWARD. Sailing against the wind by alternate tacks. (See Beating.)

WORKING UP. The keeping men at work on needless matters, beyond the usual hours, for punishment.

WORKS. All fortificational constructions, whether permanent, field, or makeshifts of the moment; from the most solid bastion to the rudest rifle-pit.WORK UP JUNK, To. To draw yarns from old cables, &c., and therewith to make foxes, points, gaskets, sinnet, or spun-yarn.WORM. An iron tool shaped like a double cork-screw on the end of a long staff, for withdrawing charges, ignited remains of cartridges, &c., from fire-arms. Called also a wad-hook in artillery. (See also Teredo Navalis.)—To worm. The act of passing a rope spirally between the lays of a cable; a smaller rope is wormed with spun-yarn. Worming is generally resorted to as a preparative for serving. (See Link Worming.)

WORM-EATEN, or Wormed. The state of a plank or of a ship's bottom when perforated by a particular kind of boring mollusk, Teredo navalis, which abounds in the tropics.

WORMS. Timber is preserved against worms by several coats of common whale-oil, or by the patents of Payne, Sir W. Burnett, Kyan, and others.

WRACK. The English name for the fucus; the sea-weed used for the manufacture of kelp, and in some places artificially grown for that purpose.

WRACK-RIDER. A species of brandling faintly barred on both sides.

WRAIN-BOLT. A ring-bolt with two or more forelock-holes in it, occasionally to belay or make fast towards the middle. It is used, with the wrain-staff in the ring, for setting-to the planks.WRAIN-STAFF. A stout billet of tough wood, tapered at its ends, so as to go into the ring of the wrain-bolt, to make the necessary setts for bringing-to the planks or thick stuff to the timber.

WRASSE. The Crenilabrus tinca, a sea-fish, sometimes called old-wife.

WRECK. The destruction of a ship by stress of weather, rocks, &c.; also the ruins of the ship after such accidents; also the goods and fragments which drive on shore after a ship is stranded. It is said that the term is derived from the sea-weed called wrack, denoting all that the sea washes on shore as it does this weed. A ship cast on shore is no wreck, in law, when any domestic animal has escaped with life in her. The custody of the cargo or goods belongs to the deputy of the vice-admiral, and they are restored to the proprietors without any fees or salvage, but what the labour of those who saved them may reasonably deserve.

WRECKAGE. Spars, rigging, or goods floating about after a wreck.

WRECKERS. A name which includes both meritorious salvors of ships in distress, and the felonious brutes who merely hasten to wrecks for plunder. One of our British colonies deemed it so entirely a legal procedure to make a wreck of or cripple a vessel on the reef, that a naval officer was threatened with legal proceedings by a lawyer whom he prevented from carrying out his practice afloat.

WRECK-FREE. Is to be exempt from the forfeiture of shipwrecked goods and vessels: a privilege which Edward I. granted by charter to the barons of the Cinque Ports.

WRIGHT'S SAILING. Synonymous with Mercator's sailing.

WRING A MAST, To. To bend, cripple, or strain it out of its natural position by setting the shrouds up too taut. The phrase, to wring, is also applied to a capstan when by an undue strain the component parts of the wood become deranged, and are thereby disunited. The head of a mast is frequently wrung by bracing up the lower yards beyond the dictates of sound judgment.

WRONG, To. To out-sail a vessel by becalming her sails is said to wrong her.WRONG WAY. When the ship casts in the opposite direction to that desired. Also, a ship swinging in a tide's way, out of the direction which would keep her hawse clear.

WRUNG-HEADS. An old term for that part of a ship near the floor-heads and second futtock-heels, which, when she lies aground, bears the greatest strain.

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