Power Moby-Dick, the Online Annotation

Glossary

Aback: (said of a sail) adj., arranged so that a wind pushes against the front side
Abaft: prep., closer to the stern than
Above: adj., on the vessel's deck
Aft: adv., in, near, or towards the stern of the vessel
After: adj., in, near, or towards the stern of the vessel
Aloft: adj., in or toward the upper rigging
Anon: adv., soon
Apoplexy: (a) n., unconsciousness; (b) n., stroke
Appal: v., frighten
At length: adv., eventually
Auger: n., a drill-shaped device used for moving material or liquid along its rotating threads
Aught: n., anything
Avast: v., to stop or halt
Awful: adj., inspiring wonder or fear
Back the main-yard: v., to arrange the horizontal pole (yard) at the bottom of the mainsail so that the sail catches the wind from the front. This is done to slow or stop the vessel
Backstay: n., a rope from the top of a mast back towards the vessel's stern
Baleen: n., the horny material through which right whales strain sea water when they eat
Ballast: n., weight placed at the bottom of a vessel to steady it
Beaver hat: n., a top had made of felted beaver fur
Before the mast: adj., like common sailors
Belike: adv., probably
Bespeak: v., to give evidence of
Bestir: v., to rouse
Bethink: (oneself) v., to reflect upon
Betoken: v., to be a sign of
Bilge-pump: n., a device used to remove water that collects in the very bottom of a ship
Billow: n., a large wave
Binnacle: n., a built-in housing for the compass on a ship
Bluff-bowed: adj., with front shaped like a bluff or face of a cliff
Boatswain: n., the officer of a ship in charge of the rigging and of calling the crew to duty. Pronounced "BOE-sun" and sometimes spelled "bosun"
Bowline: n., a rope used to secure the bow of a vessel to a dock
Bows: n., the front end of a vessel
Bowsman: n., the person who paddles at the front of a boat
Bowsprit: n., a pole extending forward from a sailing vessel's prow
Brace: (a) n., a rope by which is slung the yard that supports the top of a square sail; (b) n., a pair
Brig: n., a two-masted sailing ship
Brigand: n., a robber or bandit
Brimstone: n., sulfur
Brit: n., tiny marine microorganisms upon which the right whale feeds
Bruit: v., to gossip about
Buckler: n., a small round shield
Bulkhead: n., a wall dividing compartments of a vessel
Bulwarks: n., the parts of the sides of a vessel that extend up above the deck
Busk: n., two hard strips fitted with hooks and eyes, or buttons and hooks, used for fastening a corset
Butts: n., large casks, especially ones that hold two hogsheads, or 126 gallons, of liquid
Calabash: n., a large, woody gourd
Cannikin: n., a small cup
Cant: v., to lean or tilt
Cape Horn: n., the southernmost point of the South American continent
Capstan: n., a revolving cylinder wound with rope or cable and used for hoisting
Carline: n., ceiling beam
Carrol Ground: n., a whale-hunting area off the coast of Angola, Africa
Charger: n., a cavalry horse
Charm: n., spell, incantation
Chase: n., quarry, something that is hunted
Chock: n., a heavy metal or wood fitting with two inward-curving jaws for running a rope through
Cholo: n., someone of mixed Spanish and American Indian heritage
Circular: n., a printed notice intended for mass distribution
Circumnavigate: v., to sail all the way around something
Citadel: n., a fortress within a city
Cleat: n., T-shaped piece of metal or wood, meant to secure ropes to
Cockpits: n., a small compartment in a vessel below the waterline
Companionway: n., a staircase leading from the deck down to compartments below
Conclude: v., to decide
Confluent: adj., flowing together
Confound: v., toconfuse
Contract: v., to compress
Cooper: n., someone who makes and repairs barrels and pails
Copestone: (a) n., the top stone of a wall; (b) n., the finishing touch
Countenance: n., face
Counterpane: n., bedspread
Cozen: v., to mislead, deceive
Craven: adj., cowardly
Crosstree: n., one of two horizontal struts at the upper ends of the topmasts of sailboats, used to anchor the lines of the mast above
Crowd all sail: v., to spread all of a vessel's sails to increase speed
Crozetts: n., the Crozet Islands, an archipelago in the southern Indian Ocean
Cruising-ground: n., an area of the sea where whaling ships hunt for whales
Cupidity: n., greed
Cutting in: n., cutting the blubber off a whale
Cut-water: n., the forward part of a vessel's bow
Dam: n., mother
Dart: v., to throw
Davy Jones's Locker: n., the bottom of the sea
Descry: v., to catch sight of
Directly: adj., at once
Dismast: v., to carry away a vessel's masts
Dispatch: v., to deal with
Divers: adj., diverse
Draught: n., draft
Eddy: n., a current that moves contrary to the direction of the main current
Effulgent: adj., brightly shining
Engender: v., to give rise to
Essay: v., to try, attempt
Ever and anon: adv., now and then
Evince: v., to demonstrate
Expatiate: v., to write about at length
Fabulous: adj., mythical
Fancy: v., to imagine
Fain: (a) adj., obliged; (b) adj., gladly
Fast: (said of a whaleboat), adj., attached to a whale with harpoon and rope
Fathom: n., a distance of six feet
Festoon: n., loop
Fireboard: n., a board used to cover a fireplace when not in use
Fire worshippers: n., Zoroastrians, who use fire in their religious rites (but do not worship it)
Firmament: n., the heavens or sky
Fishery: n., industry
Fluke: n., one of the lobes of a whale's tail
Flurry: n., the violent spasms of a dying whale
Fly: v., to flee
For aye: adv., forever
Forecastle: n., the forward part of a ship below deck, usually used as the crew's quarters. Pronounced "FOKE-sul" and sometimes spelled "foc's'le"
Fore-masthead: n., at the top of the mast at the front of the ship
Foresail: n., the principal sail on the mast nearest the bow of a ship
Forward: adj., toward the front of the vessel
Founder: v., to fill with water and sink
Freshet: n., a sudden overflow of a stream, for example after a spring thaw
Frigate: n., a medium-sized warship that typically had colored pennants at the top of its masts
Fuller: n., a worker or machine that cleans and shrinks newly woven cloth
Furlong: n., a distance of 220 yards
Gain: (a) v., to reach; (b) v., to win
Gam: n., a social meeting between the crews of two ships on the open sea
Gamesome: adj., playful
Girdle: n., belt
Goney: n., gooney bird, or black-footed albatross
Grampus: n., orca
Gripe: v., grab, grasp
Ground: (a) n., background; (b) n., area of the sea
Ground-tier: n., the lowest level of casks in a ship's cargo hold
Gunwale: n., the upper edge of the side of a vessel
Halyard: n., a rope used for raising or lowering a sail
Hamper: n., shackles
Handspike: n., a wooden rod with an iron tip, used as a lever on ships
Hard by: adj., close to
Harpoon: n., a barbed weapon thrown at a whale
Hatch: n., an opening in the deck of a vessel leading to compartments below
Heave: v., to move a vessel into a particular position
Heave down: (said of a ship) v., to tip a vessel over to clean or repair the bottom
Heave to: (said of a ship) v., to turn a sailing vessel so that its bow faces the wind and it drifts
Helm: n., the steering gear of a vessel
Hempen: adj., made of hemp
Hist: v., an exclamation used to call for attention
Hogshead: n., a cask that holds 63 gallons
Hold: n., the interior of a ship, usually the cargo area
Horse-collar: n., the part of a horse's harness that circles the neck to distribute the load
Housings: n., cloths put on a horse for protection
Hove out: (said of a ship) v., past tense, removed from the water
Hove to: (said of a ship) v., past tense, turned so that the vessel faces into the wind and drifts
Howdah: n., a canopied seat set on the back of an elephant
Hyperborean: adj., Arctic
Immemorial: adj., from the distant past
Indolent: adj., lazy
In-shore: adj., close to shore
Invest: v., to clothe or cover
Jet: (a) n., spout; (b) adj., black
Jib: n., a triangular sail in front of the foremast
Jib-boom: n., a pole or spar that extends from the bowsprit at the front of the ship
Joint-stock: adj., a type of company ownership in which ownership is shared among those who buy shares
Jonah: n., the biblical prophet who was swallowed by a whale
Jove: n., Jupiter, the chief god of Roman mythology
Jupiter: n., the chief god of Roman mythology
Keel:(a) n., the long structure at the bottom of a vessel, on which the rest of the hull is built ; (b) v., to capsize
Kelson: n., a timber fastened parallel to a ship's keel for support
Kindle: v., to set fire to
King-Post:n., a vertical pole, shorter than a mast, that is used to support one of a ship's cargo-handling booms
Lance: n., a long weapon for hunting with a wooden shaft and pointed steel head
Larboard: adj., an archaic term for "port," that is, the part of a vessel that is on the left when one is facing forward. The larboard side is the side on which cargo is loaded.
League: n., a distance of three miles
Lee: n., shelter from weather of land or a building
Lees: n., residue, such as the sediment at the bottom of a wine barrel
Leeward: adj., on the side sheltered from the wind
Leviathan: n., a biblical sea monster
Life-spot: n., on a whale, an internal mass of coiled arteries that, when pierced by a lance aimed behind the fin, cause rapid death
Line: n., the Equator
Line-of-battle ship: n., a ship-of-the-line warship, designed to sustain direct bombardment from enemy forces and to deliver the same
Loggerhead: n., a post on a whaleboat used to secure the harpoon rope
Lower: v., to lower a ship's whaleboats into the water
Luff: v., to sail closer into the wind
Lumber: v., to burden
Maelstrom: n., a giant whirlpool
Main-chains: n., a horizontal fitting like a shelf on the outside of the ship, to which the rigging ropes steadying the mainmast are attached
Malignity: n., malevolence
Man-of-war: n., armed sailing ship
Mark: v., to look at
Marling-spike: n., a tapered iron tool used to separate the strands of rope when splicing
Mast-head: n., a duty assignment to spend at the top of the mast, watching for whales and perils
Meridian: n., longitude
Middle-watch: n., a watch shift from midnight to 4 a.m.
Mizen: n., the mizzenmast, the mast to the rear of the ship
Mole: n., a large pier or breakwater between two areas of land separated by water
Moor: v., to fasten with cables
Moot: adj., subject to debate
Mogul: n., a king of the Mughal Empire that ruled most of the Indian subcontinent from the 16th to the 19th centuries
Narwhal: n., a species of Arctic whale with a single long tusk
Nigh: adj., near
Nominal: adj., in name only
Nor' West Coast: n., the northernmost coasts of North America, both east and west
Oakum: n., hemp or jute fiber used for caulking a ship's seams
Oblique: n., at an angle of less than 90 degrees
Offing: n., a view of the more distant part of the sea
Onset: n., assault, onslaught
Orlop: n., the lowest deck of a ship
Parmacetty: n., sperm whale or spermaceti. Also spelled "parmacetti"
Parsee: n., a member of the Zoroastrian sect in India
Peaked: adj., with blades raised straight up, or nearly straight up
Peremptory: adj., bossy, imperious
Phrenology: n., a pseudo-science that seeks clues to a person's character or personality by studying the shape of their skull
Phrensy: n., frenzy
Physiognomy: n., a pseudo-science that seeks clues to a person's character or personality by studying their face
Piled-up: (said of a ship) adj., having all its sails set
Pilot: n., a person who guides a ship into or out of a harbor
Pilot-boat: n., a boat with a tapered bottom, for carrying pilots to and from ships in harbor
Pilot-cloth: n., a thick blue cloth used to make jackets and coats for sailors
Pipe: n., a cask that holds 126 gallons
Pitch: n., a thick black substance made by boiling down tar. It is used to seal the seams of ships, and also as a preservative coating for rope, canvas, wood, and ironwork.
Plug-hole: n., a hole fitted with a plug or stopper, used for draining water from a boat
Pod: n., group
Ponderous: adj., weighty
Poniard: n., a dagger with a slender square or rectangular blade
Poop deck: n., an exposed partial deck built on at the rear of a ship
Portcullis: n., an iron grating suspended in the gateway to a fort
or castle, and lowered to block entry
Portentous: adj., ominous
Promontory: n., a high ridge that juts out into a body of water
Prow: n., the part of the vessel's bow that is above water
Pull: v., to row
Pump: n., bilge pump, used to remove seeped-in water from the very bottom of a ship
Quarter: (a) n., the upper portion of the rear of a ship; (b) n., one leg of an animal's carcass
Quarter-boat: n., a boat hung at the back of the ship, to the rear of the last mast
Quarter-deck: n., the part of the upper deck to the rear of the main mast, usually reserved for the ship's officers, guests, and passengers
Quit: v., to leave
Raise: v., to see, spot
Reef: v., to roll up the sails to reduce the amount of wind they can catch
Reel: v., to sway
Remonstrate: v., to forcefully protest
Renegade: n., a deserter
Resort: v., to go customarily or frequently
Ring-bolt: n., a bolt made with a ring for passing rope through
Rod: n., distance of 5.5 yards
Rood: n., one-quarter acre, or 40 square rods
Rope-walk: n., a long narrow alley or lane where long strands were laid out prior to being twisted into rope
Rope-yarn: n., a strand from which rope is made
Row-lock: n., an oarlock, a U-shaped swiveling device mounted to the gunwale that holds an oar in place
Royal: n., royal sail, on the mast above the topgallant
Royal yard: n., a spar used to spread the top of the sail on the royalmast
Royalmast: n., the small mast immediately above the topgallant mast
Sagacity: n., wisdom
Score: n., twenty
Scud: n., wind-driven mist or rain
Scupper-hole: n., a hole in the side of a ship at deck level to let water run off
Scuttle: n., an opening with a lid in a vessel's deck or side
Scuttle-butt: n., a cask used to hold the day's drinking water
Season-on-the-Line: n., the time of year spent on the Equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean
Seethe: v., to churn and foam the water
Seizing: n., a small rope used to bind
Set sail: v., to raise a sail
Settee: n., a long upholstered seat for more than one person
Shade: n., a ghost
Sheaf: n., the wheel of a pulley
Sheer: v., to swerve
Sheet home: v., to pull into position
Ship biscuit: n., a hard biscuit made with only flour and water
Shoal: (a) n., large group; (b) n., sandbar
Shrink: v., to avoid
Shroud: n., a set of ropes that attaches a mast to the side of a ship
Skipper: n., a captain
Skylark: v., to play tricks
Slew: v., to rotate or turn on an axis
Slouched: adj., with the brim over the face
Smoke: v., to drag by force
Snuff: v., to breathe
Sound: (a) v., dive to a great depth; (b) v., to measure the depth of water
Span: n., a pair yoked or harnessed together
Spar: n., a long round pole used as a mast, yard, boom, or other support for sails
Speak: v., to communicate with another ship using flags or voice (as opposed to gamming)
Spermaceti: n., the white, waxy substance in the head of a sperm whale
Spile: n., a small wooden peg used for stopping a cask
Spiracle: n., blowhole
Squall: n., a sudden, violent gust of wind or storm
Starboard: adj., the part of a vessel that is on the right when one is facing forward
Stave: (a) v., to bash in; (b) n., a length of wood used in making a bucket or barrel; (c) n., a verse or stanza
Stay: n., a rope or chain that supports a ship's mast and is attached to a ship's front or back
Steering oar: n., an oversized oar or board used to guide the direction of the boat
Stern: n., the rearmost part of a vessel
Stove: adj., bashed in
Stove boat: n., a boat crushed by a harpooned whale's thrashing tail
Stun'sail: n., studding sail, a light sail set next to the principal sail on a ship to increase speed
Subaltern: n., subordinate
Sublimity: n., nobility
Succor: v., to help
Sufferable: adj., tolerable
Suffuse: v., to spread out
Sullen: adj., slow-moving
Sultry: adj., hot and humid
Sunder: v., to break into parts
Surmise: n., a supposition without evidence to support it
Swart: adj., dark-skinned
Taffrail: n., the rail around the stern of a vessel
Tallow: n., the fat of cows or sheep, which was used to make smoky and bad-smelling candles
Tandem: n., a line of boats or horses, one behind another
Tarpaulin: n., waterproofed canvas, or a hat made out of this material
Terrific: adj., causing fear
T'gallant-mast: n., the topgallant mast, that is, the mast above the topmast
Thews: n., muscles
Thigh-board: n., a structural board in the bow of a whaleboat
Tierce: n., a cask that holds 42 gallons
Tiller: n., a horizontal bar used like a lever for steering a boat
Timber head: n., the top end of a mast
Tinker: n., someone who travels around making repairs to metal utensils
Top-gallant: n., the mast above the topmast
Top-maul: n., a heavy hammer with a steel or wooden head
Tophet: n., a location near Jerusalem where, according to the Bible, Canaanites sacrificed children by burning them alive. Also, hell itself
Topsail: n., a square sail set above the lowest sail on the mast
Touching: adj., regarding
Train oil: n., oil made from whale blubber
Transom: n., a crosswise beam at the front of a ship that can be used as a bench
Treat: v., to write
Trencher: n., a wooden platter
Truck: n., a small piece of wood placed at the top of a mast, with holes for running rigging lines through
Trumpet: n., megaphone
Try-pots: n., large cauldrons on whaleships used to render the oil in whale blubber
Tub: n., wooden tub in which the rope of a harpoon is coiled for quick release
Tun: n., barrel that holds 252 gallons
Turn to: v., to begin work
Twain: n., two
Twelvemonth: n., year
Twig: v., to see or notice
Tyro: n., newbie
Unwarrantable: adj., unjustifiable
Usage: n., customary behavior
Van: n., vanguard, the foremost part of a company of soldiers on the move
Verdure: n., greenery
Vernal: adj., springlike
Vesture: n., clothing
Vicissitude: n., a change of circumstance or fortune
Waist: n., the middle of the upper deck on a vessel
Watch: n., a period of time (usually four hours) when a group of crew members is on duty
Weather-bow: n., the side of a vessel upon which the wind is blowing
Weather sheet: n., a line or rope that regulates the angle at which a sail is set in relation to the wind
Weltering: adj., rolling, tossing about
Whaleman: n., whaling ship
Whale-pike: n., a long pointed tool used for moving blubber on a ship's deck
Whelm: v., to engulf, submerge
White-ash: n., a whaleboat oar, made of white ash wood
Wight: n., a person or type of person
Windlass: n., a machine for hoisting heavy loads (including the anchor). It was a horizontal wooden cylinder around which a rope or chain was wound
Windward: n., the direction the wind is blowing from
Without: adj., outside
Yard: n., a long tapering pole used to spread the top of a square sail
Yardarm: n., either end of the yard on a square sail
Yaw: v., to swerve momentarily off-course

Power Moby Dick

Glossary