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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
POUCHES. Wooden bulk-heads across the hold of cargo vessels, to prevent grain or light shingle from shifting.
POULDRON. A shoulder-piece in armour. Corrupted from epauldron.
POULTERER. Called "Jemmy Ducks" on board ship; he assists the butcher in the feeding and care of the live stock, &c.
POUND. A lagoon, or space of water, surrounded by reefs and shoals, wherein fish are kept, as at Bermuda.
POUND-AND-PINT-IDLER. A sobriquet applied to the purser.
POUNDER. A denomination applied to guns according to the weight of the shot they carry; at present everything larger than the 100-pounder is described by the diameter of its bore, coupled with its total weight.
POW. A name on the Scotch shores for a small creek. Also, a mole.[541]
POWDER. See Gunpowder.
POWDER, To. To salt meat slightly; as Falstaff says, "If thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder me, and eat me too, to-morrow."—Powdering-tub. A vessel used for pickling beef, pork, &c.
POWDER-BAGS. Leathern bags containing from 20 to 40 lbs. of powder; substituted for petards at the instance of Lord Cochrane, as being more easily placed. They have lately been called Ghuznee bags.
POWDER-HOY. An ordnance vessel expressly fitted to convey powder from the land magazine to a ship; it invariably carries a red distinguishing flag, and warns the ship for which the powder is intended, to put out all fires before she comes alongside.
POWDER-MAGAZINE. The prepared space allotted for the powder on board ship.
POWDER-MONKEY. Formerly the boy of the gun, who had charge of the cartridge; now powder-man.
POWDER-VESSEL. A ship used as a floating magazine.
POWER. Mechanical force; in the steam-engine it is esteemed effective, expansive, or full. (See Horse-power.)
POZZOLANA. Volcanic ashes, used in cement, especially if required under water.
PRACTICABLE. Said of a breach in a rampart when its slope offers a fair means of ascent to an assaulting column.
PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY. A branch of science which includes the determination of the magnitude, distance, and phenomena of the heavenly bodies; the ready reduction of observations for tangible use in navigation and geography; and the expert manipulation of astronomical instruments.
PRÆCURSORIÆ. Ancient vessels which led or preceded the fleets.
PRÆDATORIÆ, or Prædaticæ. Long, swift, light ancient pirates.
PRAHU. [Malay for boat.] The larger war-vessels among the Malays, range from 55 to 156 feet in length, and carry 76 to 96 rowers, with about 40 to 60 fighting men. The guns range from 2 inches to 6 inches bore, are of brass, and mounted on stock-pieces, four to ten being the average. These boats are remarkable for their swiftness.
PRAIA [Sp. playa]. The beach or strand on Portuguese coasts.
PRAIRIE. The natural meadows or tracts of gently undulating, wonderfully fertile land, occupying so vast an extent of the great river-basins of North America.
PRAM, or Praam. A lighter used in Holland, and the ports of the Baltic, for loading and unloading merchant ships. Some were fitted by the French with heavy guns, for defending the smaller ports.
PRANKLE. A Channel term for the prawn.
PRATIQUE. A Mediterranean term, implying the license to trade and communicate with any place after having performed the required quarantine, or upon the production of a clean bill of health.
PRAWN. A marine crustacean larger than a shrimp, much esteemed as an article of food.[542]
PRAYER-BOOK. A smaller hand-stone than that which sailors call "bible;" it is used to scrub in narrow crevices where a large holy-stone cannot be used. (See Holy-stone.)
PRECEDENCE. The order and degree of rank among officers of the two services. (See Rank.)
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES. A slow motion of the equinoctial points in the heavens, whereby the longitudes of the fixed stars are increased at the present rate of about 501⁄4″ annually, the equinox having a retrograde motion to this amount. This effect is produced by the attraction of the sun, moon, and planets upon the spheroidal figure of the earth; the luni-solar precession is the joint effect of the sun and moon only.
PREDY, or Priddy. A word formerly used in our ships for "get ready;" as, "Predy the main-deck," or get it clear.
PRE-EMPTION. A right of purchasing necessary cargoes upon reasonable compensation to the individual whose property is thus diverted. This claim is usually restricted to neutrals avowedly bound to the enemy's ports, and is a mitigation of the former practice of seizing them. (See Commeatus.)
PREMIUM. Simply a reward; but in commerce it implies the sum of money paid to the underwriters on ship or cargo, or parts thereof, as the price of the insurance risk.
PREROGATIVE. A word of large extent. By the constitution of England the sovereign alone has the power of declaring war and peace. The crown is not precluded by the Prize Act from superseding prize proceedings by directing restitution of property seized, before adjudication, and against the will of the captors.
PRESENT! The military word of command to raise the musket, take aim, and fire.
PRESENT ARMS! The military word of command to salute with the musket.
PRESENT USE. Stores to be immediately applied in the fitting of a ship, as distinguished from the supply for future sea use.
PRESERVED MEAT AND VEGETABLES. The occasional use of such food and lime-juice at sea, is not only a great luxury, but in many cases essential to the health of the crew, as especially instanced by the increase of scurvy in ships where this precaution is neglected.
PRESIDENT. At a general court-martial it is usual for the authority ordering it to name the president, and the office usually falls upon the second in command.
PRESS, To. To reduce an enemy to straits. (See Impressment.)
PRESS-GANG. A party of seamen who (under the command of a lieutenant) were formerly empowered, in time of war, to take any seafaring men—on shore or afloat—and compel them to serve on board men-of-war. Those who were thus taken were called pressed men.
PRESS OF SAIL. As much sail as the state of the wind, &c., will permit a ship to carry.[543]
PRESSURE-GAUGE. The manometer of a steam-engine.
PREST. Formerly signified quick or ready, and a prest man was one willing to enlist for a stipulated sum—the very reverse of the pressed man of later times. (See Press-gang.)
PRESTER. An old name for a meteor.
PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE. Is such as by a fair and reasonable interpretation is deducible from the facts of a case.
PREVENTER. Applied to ropes, &c., when used as additional securities to aid other ropes in supporting spars, &c., during a strong gale; as preventer-backstays, braces, shrouds, stays, &c.
PREVENTER-PLATES. Stout plates of iron for securing the chains to the ship's side; one end is on the chain-plate bolt, the other is bolted to the ship's side below it.
PREVENTER-STOPPERS. Short pieces of rope, knotted at each end, for securing the clues of sails or rigging during action, or when strained.
PREVENTIVE SERVICE. The establishment of coast-guards at numerous stations along the shores of the United Kingdom for the prevention of smuggling.
PRICKER. A small marline-spike for making and stretching the holes for points and rope-bands in sails. Also, the priming-wire of a gun. Also, a northern name for the basking-shark.
PRICKING A SAIL. The running a middle seam between the two seams which unite every cloth of a sail to the next adjoining. This is rarely done till the sails have been worn some time, or in the case of heavy canvas, storm-sails, &c. It is also called middle-stitching.
PRICKING FOR A SOFT PLANK. Selecting a place on the deck for sleeping upon.
PRICKING HER OFF. Marking a ship's position upon a chart by the help of a scale and compasses, so as to show her situation as to latitude, longitude, and bearings of the place bound to.
PRIDE OF THE MORNING. A misty dew at sunrise; a light shower; the end of the land breeze followed by a dead calm in the tropics.
PRIEST'S-CAP. An outwork which has three salient angles at the head and two inwards.
PRIMAGE. Premium of insurance. Also, a small allowance at the water side to master and mariner for each pack or bale of cargo landed by them: otherwise called hat-money.
PRIMARY PLANET. (See Planets, Primary.)
PRIME. The fore part of the artificial day; that is, the first quarter after sunrise.
PRIME, To. To make ready a gun, mine, &c. , for instantaneous firing. Also, to pierce the cartridge with the priming-wire, and apply the quill-tube in readiness for firing the cannon. —To prime a fire-ship.
To lay the train for being set on fire. —To prime a match. Put a little wet bruised powder made into the paste called devil, upon the end of the rope slow-match, with a piece of paper wrapped round it.
PRIME VERTICAL. That great circle which passes through the zenith and the east and west points of the horizon.
PRIMING-IRONS. Consist of a pointed wire used through the vent to prick the cartridge when it is "home," and of a flat-headed one similarly inserted after discharge to insure its not retaining any ignited particles.
PRIMING-VALVES. The same with escape-valves.
PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS. The name of the volume formerly issued by the admiralty to all commanders of ships and vessels for their guidance; now superseded by Queen's Regulations.
PRISE, To. To raise, or slue, weighty bodies by means of a lever purchase or power. (See Prizing.)
PRISE-BOLTS. Knobs of iron on the cheeks of a gun-carriage to keep the handspike from slipping when prising up the breech.
PRISM. In dioptrics, is a geometrical solid bounded by three parallelograms, whose bases are equal triangles.
PRISMATIC COMPASS. One so fitted with a glass prism for reading by reflection, that the eye can simultaneously observe an object and read its compass bearing.
PRISONER AT LARGE. Free to take exercise within bounds.
PRISONERS OF WAR. Men who are captured after an engagement, who are deprived of their liberty until regularly exchanged, or dismissed on their parole.
PRISONER UNDER RESTRAINT. Suspended from duty; deprived of command.
PRISON-SHIP. One fitted up for receiving and detaining prisoners of war.
PRITCH. A dentated weapon for striking and holding eels.
PRIVATE. The proper designation of a soldier serving in the ranks of the army, holding no special position.
PRIVATEER PRACTICE, or Privateerism. Disorderly conduct, or anything out of man-of-war rules.
PRIVATEERS, or men-of-war equipped by individuals for cruising against the enemy; their commission (see Letters of Marque) is given by the admiralty, and revocable by the same authority. They have no property in any prize until it is legally condemned by a competent court. The admiral on the station is entitled to a tenth of their booty. This infamous species of warfare is unhappily not yet abolished among civilized nations.
PRIVATE PROPERTY. Commissions of privateers do not extend to the capture of private property on land; a right not even granted to men-of-war. Private armed ships are not within the terms of a capitulation protecting private property generally.
PRIVATE SIGNAL. Understood by captains having the key, but totally incomprehensible to other persons.
PRIVY-COAT. A light coat or defence of mail, concealed under the ordinary dress.
PRIZE. A vessel captured at sea from the enemies of a state, or from[545] pirates, either by a man-of-war or privateer. Vessels are also looked upon as prize, if they fight under any other standard than that of the state from which they have their commission, if they have no charter-party, and if loaded with effects belonging to the enemy, or with contraband goods. In ships of war, the prizes are to be divided among the officers, seamen, &c. , according to the act; but in privateers, according to the agreement between the owners.
P., Part 7
POUCHES. Wooden bulk-heads across the hold of cargo vessels, to prevent grain or light shingle from shifting.
POULDRON. A shoulder-piece in armour. Corrupted from epauldron.
POULTERER. Called "Jemmy Ducks" on board ship; he assists the butcher in the feeding and care of the live stock, &c.
POUND. A lagoon, or space of water, surrounded by reefs and shoals, wherein fish are kept, as at Bermuda.
POUND-AND-PINT-IDLER. A sobriquet applied to the purser.
POUNDER. A denomination applied to guns according to the weight of the shot they carry; at present everything larger than the 100-pounder is described by the diameter of its bore, coupled with its total weight.
POW. A name on the Scotch shores for a small creek. Also, a mole.[541]
POWDER. See Gunpowder.
POWDER, To. To salt meat slightly; as Falstaff says, "If thou embowel me to-day, I'll give you leave to powder me, and eat me too, to-morrow."—Powdering-tub. A vessel used for pickling beef, pork, &c.
POWDER-BAGS. Leathern bags containing from 20 to 40 lbs. of powder; substituted for petards at the instance of Lord Cochrane, as being more easily placed. They have lately been called Ghuznee bags.
POWDER-HOY. An ordnance vessel expressly fitted to convey powder from the land magazine to a ship; it invariably carries a red distinguishing flag, and warns the ship for which the powder is intended, to put out all fires before she comes alongside.
POWDER-MAGAZINE. The prepared space allotted for the powder on board ship.
POWDER-MONKEY. Formerly the boy of the gun, who had charge of the cartridge; now powder-man.
POWDER-VESSEL. A ship used as a floating magazine.
POWER. Mechanical force; in the steam-engine it is esteemed effective, expansive, or full. (See Horse-power.)
POZZOLANA. Volcanic ashes, used in cement, especially if required under water.
PRACTICABLE. Said of a breach in a rampart when its slope offers a fair means of ascent to an assaulting column.
PRACTICAL ASTRONOMY. A branch of science which includes the determination of the magnitude, distance, and phenomena of the heavenly bodies; the ready reduction of observations for tangible use in navigation and geography; and the expert manipulation of astronomical instruments.
PRÆCURSORIÆ. Ancient vessels which led or preceded the fleets.
PRÆDATORIÆ, or Prædaticæ. Long, swift, light ancient pirates.
PRAHU. [Malay for boat.] The larger war-vessels among the Malays, range from 55 to 156 feet in length, and carry 76 to 96 rowers, with about 40 to 60 fighting men. The guns range from 2 inches to 6 inches bore, are of brass, and mounted on stock-pieces, four to ten being the average. These boats are remarkable for their swiftness.
PRAIA [Sp. playa]. The beach or strand on Portuguese coasts.
PRAIRIE. The natural meadows or tracts of gently undulating, wonderfully fertile land, occupying so vast an extent of the great river-basins of North America.
PRAM, or Praam. A lighter used in Holland, and the ports of the Baltic, for loading and unloading merchant ships. Some were fitted by the French with heavy guns, for defending the smaller ports.
PRANKLE. A Channel term for the prawn.
PRATIQUE. A Mediterranean term, implying the license to trade and communicate with any place after having performed the required quarantine, or upon the production of a clean bill of health.
PRAWN. A marine crustacean larger than a shrimp, much esteemed as an article of food.[542]
PRAYER-BOOK. A smaller hand-stone than that which sailors call "bible;" it is used to scrub in narrow crevices where a large holy-stone cannot be used. (See Holy-stone.)
PRECEDENCE. The order and degree of rank among officers of the two services. (See Rank.)
PRECESSION OF THE EQUINOXES. A slow motion of the equinoctial points in the heavens, whereby the longitudes of the fixed stars are increased at the present rate of about 501⁄4″ annually, the equinox having a retrograde motion to this amount. This effect is produced by the attraction of the sun, moon, and planets upon the spheroidal figure of the earth; the luni-solar precession is the joint effect of the sun and moon only.
PREDY, or Priddy. A word formerly used in our ships for "get ready;" as, "Predy the main-deck," or get it clear.
PRE-EMPTION. A right of purchasing necessary cargoes upon reasonable compensation to the individual whose property is thus diverted. This claim is usually restricted to neutrals avowedly bound to the enemy's ports, and is a mitigation of the former practice of seizing them. (See Commeatus.)
PREMIUM. Simply a reward; but in commerce it implies the sum of money paid to the underwriters on ship or cargo, or parts thereof, as the price of the insurance risk.
PREROGATIVE. A word of large extent. By the constitution of England the sovereign alone has the power of declaring war and peace. The crown is not precluded by the Prize Act from superseding prize proceedings by directing restitution of property seized, before adjudication, and against the will of the captors.
PRESENT! The military word of command to raise the musket, take aim, and fire.
PRESENT ARMS! The military word of command to salute with the musket.
PRESENT USE. Stores to be immediately applied in the fitting of a ship, as distinguished from the supply for future sea use.
PRESERVED MEAT AND VEGETABLES. The occasional use of such food and lime-juice at sea, is not only a great luxury, but in many cases essential to the health of the crew, as especially instanced by the increase of scurvy in ships where this precaution is neglected.
PRESIDENT. At a general court-martial it is usual for the authority ordering it to name the president, and the office usually falls upon the second in command.
PRESS, To. To reduce an enemy to straits. (See Impressment.)
PRESS-GANG. A party of seamen who (under the command of a lieutenant) were formerly empowered, in time of war, to take any seafaring men—on shore or afloat—and compel them to serve on board men-of-war. Those who were thus taken were called pressed men.
PRESS OF SAIL. As much sail as the state of the wind, &c., will permit a ship to carry.[543]
PRESSURE-GAUGE. The manometer of a steam-engine.
PREST. Formerly signified quick or ready, and a prest man was one willing to enlist for a stipulated sum—the very reverse of the pressed man of later times. (See Press-gang.)
PRESTER. An old name for a meteor.
PRESUMPTIVE EVIDENCE. Is such as by a fair and reasonable interpretation is deducible from the facts of a case.
PREVENTER. Applied to ropes, &c., when used as additional securities to aid other ropes in supporting spars, &c., during a strong gale; as preventer-backstays, braces, shrouds, stays, &c.
PREVENTER-PLATES. Stout plates of iron for securing the chains to the ship's side; one end is on the chain-plate bolt, the other is bolted to the ship's side below it.
PREVENTER-STOPPERS. Short pieces of rope, knotted at each end, for securing the clues of sails or rigging during action, or when strained.
PREVENTIVE SERVICE. The establishment of coast-guards at numerous stations along the shores of the United Kingdom for the prevention of smuggling.
PRICKER. A small marline-spike for making and stretching the holes for points and rope-bands in sails. Also, the priming-wire of a gun. Also, a northern name for the basking-shark.
PRICKING A SAIL. The running a middle seam between the two seams which unite every cloth of a sail to the next adjoining. This is rarely done till the sails have been worn some time, or in the case of heavy canvas, storm-sails, &c. It is also called middle-stitching.
PRICKING FOR A SOFT PLANK. Selecting a place on the deck for sleeping upon.
PRICKING HER OFF. Marking a ship's position upon a chart by the help of a scale and compasses, so as to show her situation as to latitude, longitude, and bearings of the place bound to.
PRIDE OF THE MORNING. A misty dew at sunrise; a light shower; the end of the land breeze followed by a dead calm in the tropics.
PRIEST'S-CAP. An outwork which has three salient angles at the head and two inwards.
PRIMAGE. Premium of insurance. Also, a small allowance at the water side to master and mariner for each pack or bale of cargo landed by them: otherwise called hat-money.
PRIMARY PLANET. (See Planets, Primary.)
PRIME. The fore part of the artificial day; that is, the first quarter after sunrise.
PRIME, To. To make ready a gun, mine, &c. , for instantaneous firing. Also, to pierce the cartridge with the priming-wire, and apply the quill-tube in readiness for firing the cannon. —To prime a fire-ship.
To lay the train for being set on fire. —To prime a match. Put a little wet bruised powder made into the paste called devil, upon the end of the rope slow-match, with a piece of paper wrapped round it.
PRIME VERTICAL. That great circle which passes through the zenith and the east and west points of the horizon.
PRIMING-IRONS. Consist of a pointed wire used through the vent to prick the cartridge when it is "home," and of a flat-headed one similarly inserted after discharge to insure its not retaining any ignited particles.
PRIMING-VALVES. The same with escape-valves.
PRINTED INSTRUCTIONS. The name of the volume formerly issued by the admiralty to all commanders of ships and vessels for their guidance; now superseded by Queen's Regulations.
PRISE, To. To raise, or slue, weighty bodies by means of a lever purchase or power. (See Prizing.)
PRISE-BOLTS. Knobs of iron on the cheeks of a gun-carriage to keep the handspike from slipping when prising up the breech.
PRISM. In dioptrics, is a geometrical solid bounded by three parallelograms, whose bases are equal triangles.
PRISMATIC COMPASS. One so fitted with a glass prism for reading by reflection, that the eye can simultaneously observe an object and read its compass bearing.
PRISONER AT LARGE. Free to take exercise within bounds.
PRISONERS OF WAR. Men who are captured after an engagement, who are deprived of their liberty until regularly exchanged, or dismissed on their parole.
PRISONER UNDER RESTRAINT. Suspended from duty; deprived of command.
PRISON-SHIP. One fitted up for receiving and detaining prisoners of war.
PRITCH. A dentated weapon for striking and holding eels.
PRIVATE. The proper designation of a soldier serving in the ranks of the army, holding no special position.
PRIVATEER PRACTICE, or Privateerism. Disorderly conduct, or anything out of man-of-war rules.
PRIVATEERS, or men-of-war equipped by individuals for cruising against the enemy; their commission (see Letters of Marque) is given by the admiralty, and revocable by the same authority. They have no property in any prize until it is legally condemned by a competent court. The admiral on the station is entitled to a tenth of their booty. This infamous species of warfare is unhappily not yet abolished among civilized nations.
PRIVATE PROPERTY. Commissions of privateers do not extend to the capture of private property on land; a right not even granted to men-of-war. Private armed ships are not within the terms of a capitulation protecting private property generally.
PRIVATE SIGNAL. Understood by captains having the key, but totally incomprehensible to other persons.
PRIVY-COAT. A light coat or defence of mail, concealed under the ordinary dress.
PRIZE. A vessel captured at sea from the enemies of a state, or from[545] pirates, either by a man-of-war or privateer. Vessels are also looked upon as prize, if they fight under any other standard than that of the state from which they have their commission, if they have no charter-party, and if loaded with effects belonging to the enemy, or with contraband goods. In ships of war, the prizes are to be divided among the officers, seamen, &c. , according to the act; but in privateers, according to the agreement between the owners.