about ship
verbUS /əˌbaʊt ˈʃɪp/
Etymology From the imperative phrase used as an order aboard sailing ships.
1
Tack; to cause to turn into the wind and through the other side ending with a full 180 degree turn.
- The ships fired grape shot but to no effect. They about ship and went to sea.1807, A Journal kept at Nootka Sound, John R. Jewitt, page 27:
- This Amanda refused and was about shipping to the other side, when the gentleman sprang out, clasped her in his arms, lifted her in, whistled to his horse and the next moment was flying about like mad …1841 October 17, Amanda Green, "Life of the Nymphs 11", The Sunday Flash, quoted in The Flash Press: Sporting Male Weeklies in 1840s New York, page 148
4 more examples
- The captain saw that no further progress could be made with safety, so he about ship, and ran for Newcastle.1857, John Askew, A Voyage to Australia and New Zealand, page 251:
- "Jones fired first and broke its leg, so he charged; Noland hit him in the back, so he about ship and wanted to make mince meat of him for his trouble; when the Doctor sent a shot through his shoulder, and he sprawled," coolly replied the boatswain's mate, as he was cutting the animal's throat, to the numerous inquiries.1857, From Bombay to Bushire, and Bussora, William Ashton Shepherd, page 193:
- We are told repeatedly that the King advised, restrained, coerced, conceded; that he alone saw the end from the beginning, and that in his hand only the helm of the State "about-shipped" or stood still at the right moment.1858, James Anthony Froude, John Tulloch, editors, Fraser's Magazine, volume 58, page 23:
- They stood for the land, and as they could not fetch in before dark, they about ship, and lay "a hull, all that night," finding abundance of fish, "very large and great" [...]1859, Ancient dominions of Maine, Rufus King Sewall, page 82: