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From Complete Book of The Sailor's Word-Book: An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc.
By Unknown Author
STAND, To. The movement by which a ship advances towards a certain object, or departs from it; as, "The enemy stands in shore;" "We saw three sail standing to the southward." "That ship has not a mast standing," implies that she has lost all her masts.[650]
STANDARD. Formerly, in ship-building, was an inverted knee, placed upon the deck instead of beneath it, and having its vertical branch pointed upwards from that which lay horizontally.—Royal standard. A flag in which the imperial ensigns of England, Scotland, and Ireland are quartered. It is never hoisted on board a ship unless when visited by the royal family, and then it is displayed at the mast-head allotted to the rank; at the main only for the sovereign.
STANDARD-DEALS. Those planks of the pine or fir above 7 inches wide and 6 feet long: under that length they are known as deal-ends.
STANDARD-KNEES. See Deck Standard-knees.
STAND BY! The order to be prepared; to look out to fire when directed.—To stand by a rope, is to take hold of it; the anchor, prepare to let go.
STAND CLEAR OF THE CABLE! A precautionary order when about to let go the anchor, that nothing may obstruct it in running out of the hawse-holes. Also, a warning when idlers obstruct quarter-deck duty.
STANDEL. In our statutes, is a young store oak-tree.
STAND FROM UNDER! A notice given to those below to keep out of the way of anything being lowered down, or let fall from above.
STANDING BACKSTAYS. The rigging proper. (See Backstays.)
STANDING BEVELLING. The alteration made obtuse or outside a square, in hewing timber, as opposed to acute, or under-bevelling, which is within a square.
STANDING BOWSPRIT. One that is fixed permanently in its place, not the running-in bowsprit of a cutter.
STANDING-JIB. The jib, as distinguished from the other jibs.
STANDING-LIFTS. Ropes from the mast-heads to the ends of the upper yards, to keep them square and steady when the sail is not set.
STANDING ORDERS. Special regulations remaining constant for some particular branch of service.
STANDING PART OF A HOOK. That part which is attached to a block, chain, or anything which is to heave the hook up, with a weight hanging to it; the part opposite to the point.
STANDING PART OF A SHEET. That part which is secured to a ring at the ship's bow, quarter, side, &c.
STANDING PART OF A TACKLE or Rope. The part which is made fast to the mast, deck, or block, in contradistinction to that which is pulled upon, and is called the fall, or running part.
STANDING PULL. One with the face towards the tackle, being about 2 feet each pull.
STANDING RIGGING. That part which is made fast, and not hauled upon; being the shrouds, backstays, and stays for the support of the masts.
STANDING UP. A ship in good trim, and well attended to, is said to stand well up to her canvas.
STANDING WARRANTS. Those officers who remain with a ship in ordinary, or on the stocks, as the gunner, carpenter, boatswain, and cook, and till 1814 the purser.[651]
STANDING WATER. Water where there is no current or tide.
STAND IN SHORE, To. To sail directly for the land.
STAND OF ARMS. A complete set for one man; now-a-days, simply a musket and bayonet. Also, an arm-stand holding the muskets and cutlasses on the quarter-deck—ornamental, and ready for salute or service.
STAND RIGHT UNDER! Jocularly, "Get out of the way."
STAND SQUARE, To. To stand or be at right angles relatively to some object.
STANGS. Poles put across a river. Also, eel-spears.
STANK. An old statute term for staunch (which see).
STAPLE. Merchants of the staple formerly meant those who exported the staple wares of the country.
STAPLE-KNEES, or Staple-lodging Knees. The same as deck standard-knees (which see).
STAR, Double. See Double-star.
STAR, Temporary. See Temporary Stars.
STAR, Variable. See Variable Stars.
STARBOARD. The opposite of larboard or port; the distinguishing term for the right side of a ship when looking forward [from the Anglo-Saxon stéora-bórd].
STARBOARD THE HELM! So place the helm that the rudder is brought on the port side of the stern-post. (See Hard-a-starboard.)
STARBOLINS. The old familiar term for the men of the starboard watch, as larbolin was for the larboard or port watch.
STAR-FISHES. See Sea-star.
STAR-FORTS. Those traced in the form of a star, with alternate salient and re-entering angles. They are not in much favour, being expensive in construction, of small interior space, and having much dead space in their ditches.
STAR-GLINT. A meteorite.
STAR-PAGODA. A gold coin of the East Indies. In Madras its value is 7s. 6d.
STARS, Fixed. Those innumerable bodies bespangling the heavens from pole to pole, distinguishable from the planets by their apparent fixity; it is, however, certain that many of them move through space at a rate vastly greater than that of the earth in her orbit, though, from their enormous distance, we can with difficulty perceive it.
START. A long handle or tail; whence, by analogy, "start point. " But sometimes applied by navigators to any point from which a departure is taken. Also, the expected place of a struck whale's rising, after having plunged or sounded. —To start, applied to liquids, is to empty; but if to any weight, as the anchor, &c.
, implies to move. —To start bread. To turn it out of bags or casks, and stow it in bulk. —To start a butt-end. When a plank has loosened or sprung at the butt-end, by the ship's labouring, or other cause.
—To start a tack or sheet. To slack it off, as in tacking or manœuvring, "raise tacks and sheets.
STARTING. An irregular and arbitrary mode of punishment with canes or ropes' ends, long since illegal in the British navy.
STARTING-BOLT, or Drift-bolt. A bolt used to drive out another; it is usually a trifle smaller.
STASH IT THERE! An old order to cease or be quiet.
STATE-ROOM. A sleeping cabin, or small berth, detached from the main cabin of merchantmen or saloon of passenger vessels.
STATION. The allotted places of the duties of each person on board. In most merchantmen the cry of "Every man to his station, and the cook to the fore-sheet," is calling the hands and the idlers.
STATIONARIÆ. Those vessels of a Roman fleet ordered to remain at anchor.
STATIONARY POINTS. Those points in a planet's orbit in which, as viewed from the earth, it appears to have no motion amongst the stars.
STATION-BILL. A list containing the appointed posts of the crew when performing any evolution but action.
STATIONER. One who has had experience, or who has been some time on a particular station.
STATIONING A SHIP'S COMPANY. Arranging the crew for the ready execution of the evolutionary duties of a ship.
STATION-POINTER. A circular instrument furnished with one standard radius, and two movable. By laying off two observed angles right and left from a central object, and laying the instrument over the objects on a chart, the position of the observer is instantly fixed.
STATIONS FOR STAYS! Repair to your posts to tack ship.
STAUNCH. A flood-gate crossing a river to keep up a head of water, and, by producing a rush in dry weather, floating the lighters over the adjacent shallows.
STAVE, To. To break a hole in any vessel. Also, to drive in the head of a cask, as of spirits, to prevent the crew from misusing it in case of wreck.—To stave off. To boom off; to push anything off with a pole.
STAVES. Wood prepared for the component parts of a cask. In 1781, staves were ruled not to be a naval store, unless it were shown that the French at Brest were in some peculiar want of casks. Also, the wood of lances, formerly an object of great care, insomuch that Shakspeare makes Richard III. say:—
STAY. A large strong rope extending from the upper end of each mast towards the stem of the ship, as the shrouds are extended on each side. The object of both is to prevent the masts from springing, when the ship is pitching deep. Thus stays are fore and aft; those which are led down to the vessel's side are backstays. —The fore-stay is that which reaches from the foremast-head towards the bowsprit end.
—The main-stay is that which extends to the ship's stem. —The mizen-stay is that which is stretched to a collar on the main-mast, immediately above the quarter-deck. —The[653] fore-topmast stay is that which comes to the end of the bowsprit, a little beyond the fore-stay, on which the fore-topmast staysail runs on hanks. —The main-topmast stay is attached to the hounds of the fore-mast, or comes on deck. —The mizen-topmast stay is that which comes to the hounds of the main-mast.
The top-gallant, royal, or any other masts, have each a stay, named after their respective masts. —Spring-stay is a kind of substitute nearly parallel to the principal stay, and intended to help the principal stay to support its mast. —Stay of a steamer. An iron bar between the two knees which secure the paddle-beams. (See Funnel-stays.
)—To stay. To tack, to bring the ship's head up to the wind for going about; hence to miss stays, is to fail in the attempt to go about. —In stays, or hove in stays, is the situation of a vessel when she is staying, or in the act of going about; a vessel in bad trim, or lubberly handled, is sure to be slack in stays, and refuses stays, when she has to wear.
STAY APEEK. When the cable and fore-stay form a line. (See Apeek.)
STAY-BARS, or Stay-rods. Strong malleable iron bars for supporting the framings of the marine steam-engine.
STAYED FORWARD. This term is applied to masts when they incline forward out of the vertical line; the opposite of rake (which see.)
STAYSAIL. A triangular sail hoisted upon a stay.
STAYSAIL-NETTING. See Bowsprit-netting.
STAYSAIL-STAY. The stay on which a staysail is set.
STAY-TACKLES, Fore and Main. Special movable purchases for hoisting in and out boats, anchors, &c. They plumb the fore and main hatchways, working in conjunction with fore and main yard tackles.
STEADY! The order given to the steersman, in a fair wind, to steer the ship on her course without deviating; to which he answers, Steady it is, sir.
STEADY-FAST. A hawser carried out to some fixed object to keep a vessel steady in a tide-way, or in preparation for making sail from a fast.
STEADY GALE. A fresh breeze pretty uniform in force and direction.
STEALING. The gaining of a rat-line or two in height while waiting on the lower part of the rigging for the order to go aloft. Also, a vessel is said to steal ahead when she moves with the lightest breath of air.
STEAM-CHEST. The reservoir for steam above the water of the boiler; sometimes termed steam-chamber.
STEAM-CRANE. A crane worked by means of a steam-engine.
STEAM-CYLINDER. See Cylinder.
STEAM-FRIGATE. A large armed steamer commanded by a captain in the navy.
STEAM-HOIST. A machine in dockyards for driving piles, working pumps, &c.
STEAM NAVIGATION. The management of vessels propelled by steam-power.
STEAM-PACKET. A steamer employed in trading regularly between two places with goods and passengers.[654]
STEAM-PIPE. See Waste Steam-pipe.
STEAM-PORTS. Oblong passages leading from the nozzle-faces to the inside of the cylinder; by them the steam enters and returns, above and below the piston.
STEAM-RAM. A new order of war-vessel, fitted for running prow on against an enemy's ship, to stave her in by crushing.
STEAM SLOOP-OF-WAR. One commanded by a commander.
STEAM-TUG. A vessel fitted with a marine steam-engine, and expressly employed for towing ships.
STEAM-WINCH. A machine for hoisting out cargo or working a ship's pumps.
STEATÆ. Broad low vessels used by the ancient pirates.
STEELER, or Stealer. The foremost and aftermost plank in a strake, which drops short of the stem or stern-post.
S., Part 15
STAND, To. The movement by which a ship advances towards a certain object, or departs from it; as, "The enemy stands in shore;" "We saw three sail standing to the southward." "That ship has not a mast standing," implies that she has lost all her masts.[650]
STANDARD. Formerly, in ship-building, was an inverted knee, placed upon the deck instead of beneath it, and having its vertical branch pointed upwards from that which lay horizontally.—Royal standard. A flag in which the imperial ensigns of England, Scotland, and Ireland are quartered. It is never hoisted on board a ship unless when visited by the royal family, and then it is displayed at the mast-head allotted to the rank; at the main only for the sovereign.
STANDARD-DEALS. Those planks of the pine or fir above 7 inches wide and 6 feet long: under that length they are known as deal-ends.
STANDARD-KNEES. See Deck Standard-knees.
STAND BY! The order to be prepared; to look out to fire when directed.—To stand by a rope, is to take hold of it; the anchor, prepare to let go.
STAND CLEAR OF THE CABLE! A precautionary order when about to let go the anchor, that nothing may obstruct it in running out of the hawse-holes. Also, a warning when idlers obstruct quarter-deck duty.
STANDEL. In our statutes, is a young store oak-tree.
STAND FROM UNDER! A notice given to those below to keep out of the way of anything being lowered down, or let fall from above.
STANDING BACKSTAYS. The rigging proper. (See Backstays.)
STANDING BEVELLING. The alteration made obtuse or outside a square, in hewing timber, as opposed to acute, or under-bevelling, which is within a square.
STANDING BOWSPRIT. One that is fixed permanently in its place, not the running-in bowsprit of a cutter.
STANDING-JIB. The jib, as distinguished from the other jibs.
STANDING-LIFTS. Ropes from the mast-heads to the ends of the upper yards, to keep them square and steady when the sail is not set.
STANDING ORDERS. Special regulations remaining constant for some particular branch of service.
STANDING PART OF A HOOK. That part which is attached to a block, chain, or anything which is to heave the hook up, with a weight hanging to it; the part opposite to the point.
STANDING PART OF A SHEET. That part which is secured to a ring at the ship's bow, quarter, side, &c.
STANDING PART OF A TACKLE or Rope. The part which is made fast to the mast, deck, or block, in contradistinction to that which is pulled upon, and is called the fall, or running part.
STANDING PULL. One with the face towards the tackle, being about 2 feet each pull.
STANDING RIGGING. That part which is made fast, and not hauled upon; being the shrouds, backstays, and stays for the support of the masts.
STANDING UP. A ship in good trim, and well attended to, is said to stand well up to her canvas.
STANDING WARRANTS. Those officers who remain with a ship in ordinary, or on the stocks, as the gunner, carpenter, boatswain, and cook, and till 1814 the purser.[651]
STANDING WATER. Water where there is no current or tide.
STAND IN SHORE, To. To sail directly for the land.
STAND OF ARMS. A complete set for one man; now-a-days, simply a musket and bayonet. Also, an arm-stand holding the muskets and cutlasses on the quarter-deck—ornamental, and ready for salute or service.
STAND RIGHT UNDER! Jocularly, "Get out of the way."
STAND SQUARE, To. To stand or be at right angles relatively to some object.
STANGS. Poles put across a river. Also, eel-spears.
STANK. An old statute term for staunch (which see).
STAPLE. Merchants of the staple formerly meant those who exported the staple wares of the country.
STAPLE-KNEES, or Staple-lodging Knees. The same as deck standard-knees (which see).
STAR, Double. See Double-star.
STAR, Temporary. See Temporary Stars.
STAR, Variable. See Variable Stars.
STARBOARD. The opposite of larboard or port; the distinguishing term for the right side of a ship when looking forward [from the Anglo-Saxon stéora-bórd].
STARBOARD THE HELM! So place the helm that the rudder is brought on the port side of the stern-post. (See Hard-a-starboard.)
STARBOLINS. The old familiar term for the men of the starboard watch, as larbolin was for the larboard or port watch.
STAR-FISHES. See Sea-star.
STAR-FORTS. Those traced in the form of a star, with alternate salient and re-entering angles. They are not in much favour, being expensive in construction, of small interior space, and having much dead space in their ditches.
STAR-GLINT. A meteorite.
STAR-PAGODA. A gold coin of the East Indies. In Madras its value is 7s. 6d.
STARS, Fixed. Those innumerable bodies bespangling the heavens from pole to pole, distinguishable from the planets by their apparent fixity; it is, however, certain that many of them move through space at a rate vastly greater than that of the earth in her orbit, though, from their enormous distance, we can with difficulty perceive it.
START. A long handle or tail; whence, by analogy, "start point. " But sometimes applied by navigators to any point from which a departure is taken. Also, the expected place of a struck whale's rising, after having plunged or sounded. —To start, applied to liquids, is to empty; but if to any weight, as the anchor, &c.
, implies to move. —To start bread. To turn it out of bags or casks, and stow it in bulk. —To start a butt-end. When a plank has loosened or sprung at the butt-end, by the ship's labouring, or other cause.
—To start a tack or sheet. To slack it off, as in tacking or manœuvring, "raise tacks and sheets.
STARTING. An irregular and arbitrary mode of punishment with canes or ropes' ends, long since illegal in the British navy.
STARTING-BOLT, or Drift-bolt. A bolt used to drive out another; it is usually a trifle smaller.
STASH IT THERE! An old order to cease or be quiet.
STATE-ROOM. A sleeping cabin, or small berth, detached from the main cabin of merchantmen or saloon of passenger vessels.
STATION. The allotted places of the duties of each person on board. In most merchantmen the cry of "Every man to his station, and the cook to the fore-sheet," is calling the hands and the idlers.
STATIONARIÆ. Those vessels of a Roman fleet ordered to remain at anchor.
STATIONARY POINTS. Those points in a planet's orbit in which, as viewed from the earth, it appears to have no motion amongst the stars.
STATION-BILL. A list containing the appointed posts of the crew when performing any evolution but action.
STATIONER. One who has had experience, or who has been some time on a particular station.
STATIONING A SHIP'S COMPANY. Arranging the crew for the ready execution of the evolutionary duties of a ship.
STATION-POINTER. A circular instrument furnished with one standard radius, and two movable. By laying off two observed angles right and left from a central object, and laying the instrument over the objects on a chart, the position of the observer is instantly fixed.
STATIONS FOR STAYS! Repair to your posts to tack ship.
STAUNCH. A flood-gate crossing a river to keep up a head of water, and, by producing a rush in dry weather, floating the lighters over the adjacent shallows.
STAVE, To. To break a hole in any vessel. Also, to drive in the head of a cask, as of spirits, to prevent the crew from misusing it in case of wreck.—To stave off. To boom off; to push anything off with a pole.
STAVES. Wood prepared for the component parts of a cask. In 1781, staves were ruled not to be a naval store, unless it were shown that the French at Brest were in some peculiar want of casks. Also, the wood of lances, formerly an object of great care, insomuch that Shakspeare makes Richard III. say:—
STAY. A large strong rope extending from the upper end of each mast towards the stem of the ship, as the shrouds are extended on each side. The object of both is to prevent the masts from springing, when the ship is pitching deep. Thus stays are fore and aft; those which are led down to the vessel's side are backstays. —The fore-stay is that which reaches from the foremast-head towards the bowsprit end.
—The main-stay is that which extends to the ship's stem. —The mizen-stay is that which is stretched to a collar on the main-mast, immediately above the quarter-deck. —The[653] fore-topmast stay is that which comes to the end of the bowsprit, a little beyond the fore-stay, on which the fore-topmast staysail runs on hanks. —The main-topmast stay is attached to the hounds of the fore-mast, or comes on deck. —The mizen-topmast stay is that which comes to the hounds of the main-mast.
The top-gallant, royal, or any other masts, have each a stay, named after their respective masts. —Spring-stay is a kind of substitute nearly parallel to the principal stay, and intended to help the principal stay to support its mast. —Stay of a steamer. An iron bar between the two knees which secure the paddle-beams. (See Funnel-stays.
)—To stay. To tack, to bring the ship's head up to the wind for going about; hence to miss stays, is to fail in the attempt to go about. —In stays, or hove in stays, is the situation of a vessel when she is staying, or in the act of going about; a vessel in bad trim, or lubberly handled, is sure to be slack in stays, and refuses stays, when she has to wear.
STAY APEEK. When the cable and fore-stay form a line. (See Apeek.)
STAY-BARS, or Stay-rods. Strong malleable iron bars for supporting the framings of the marine steam-engine.
STAYED FORWARD. This term is applied to masts when they incline forward out of the vertical line; the opposite of rake (which see.)
STAYSAIL. A triangular sail hoisted upon a stay.
STAYSAIL-NETTING. See Bowsprit-netting.
STAYSAIL-STAY. The stay on which a staysail is set.
STAY-TACKLES, Fore and Main. Special movable purchases for hoisting in and out boats, anchors, &c. They plumb the fore and main hatchways, working in conjunction with fore and main yard tackles.
STEADY! The order given to the steersman, in a fair wind, to steer the ship on her course without deviating; to which he answers, Steady it is, sir.
STEADY-FAST. A hawser carried out to some fixed object to keep a vessel steady in a tide-way, or in preparation for making sail from a fast.
STEADY GALE. A fresh breeze pretty uniform in force and direction.
STEALING. The gaining of a rat-line or two in height while waiting on the lower part of the rigging for the order to go aloft. Also, a vessel is said to steal ahead when she moves with the lightest breath of air.
STEAM-CHEST. The reservoir for steam above the water of the boiler; sometimes termed steam-chamber.
STEAM-CRANE. A crane worked by means of a steam-engine.
STEAM-CYLINDER. See Cylinder.
STEAM-FRIGATE. A large armed steamer commanded by a captain in the navy.
STEAM-HOIST. A machine in dockyards for driving piles, working pumps, &c.
STEAM NAVIGATION. The management of vessels propelled by steam-power.
STEAM-PACKET. A steamer employed in trading regularly between two places with goods and passengers.[654]
STEAM-PIPE. See Waste Steam-pipe.
STEAM-PORTS. Oblong passages leading from the nozzle-faces to the inside of the cylinder; by them the steam enters and returns, above and below the piston.
STEAM-RAM. A new order of war-vessel, fitted for running prow on against an enemy's ship, to stave her in by crushing.
STEAM SLOOP-OF-WAR. One commanded by a commander.
STEAM-TUG. A vessel fitted with a marine steam-engine, and expressly employed for towing ships.
STEAM-WINCH. A machine for hoisting out cargo or working a ship's pumps.
STEATÆ. Broad low vessels used by the ancient pirates.
STEELER, or Stealer. The foremost and aftermost plank in a strake, which drops short of the stem or stern-post.