This page gathers the 2,069 dictionary entries belonging to the domain “Nautical”, as labelled by Wiktionary. Each word leads to its full entry: definitions, etymology, pronunciation, examples. Page 8 of 21: from “fairway” to “fox”.
- fairway noun A navigable channel in a harbour, offshore etc; the usual course taken by vessels in such places.
- fake noun One of the circles or windings of a cable or hawser, as it lies in a coil; a single turn or coil.
- fall intj The cry given when a whale is sighted, or harpooned.
- fall down verb To sail or drift toward the mouth of a river or other outlet.
- fall off verb To change the direction of a sail so as to point in a direction that is more down wind; to bring the bow leeward.
- false flag noun A ruse, in the days of sail, in which an attacking ship would fly the colours of its enemy until close enough to open fire.
- false keel noun The timber below the main keel, used to serve both as a protection and to increase the ship's lateral resistance.
- fang noun Synonym of vang, a line extended from the end of a gaff to control its position.
- fantail noun An overhanging deck at the stern of a ship.
- fathom noun A man's armspan, generally reckoned to be six feet (about 1.8 metres). Later used to measure the depth of water, but now generally replaced…
- fend off verb To prevent (a vessel) from running against anything with too much violence.
- fender verb To use fenders to protect the side of a boat
- fenestration noun The practice of placing holes in the rudder of a ship to reduce the work required to move the rudder while preserving its ability to steer…
- ferry noun A boat or ship used to transport people, smaller vehicles and goods from one port to another, usually on a regular schedule.
- ferryboat noun A boat used to ferry passengers, vehicles, or goods across open water, especially one that runs to a regular schedule
- fetch verb To bring or get within reach by going; to reach; to arrive at; to attain; to reach by sailing.
- fid noun A pointed tool without any sharp edges, used in weaving or knotwork to tighten and form up weaves or complex knots; used in sailing ships…
- fiddle noun Any rail or device that prevents items from sliding off a table, stove, etc. in rough water.
- fiddle block noun A long tackle block having two sheaves of different diameters in the same plane, instead of side by side as in a common double block.
- fiddler noun The capstan-house on a steamer.
- fiddley noun The iron framework round the deck opening that leads to the stokehole of a steamer, usually covered by a grating of iron bars.
- fifth-rate adj Of a Royal Navy warship in the Napoleonic Era: having 32–44 guns across one or two gun decks, a complement of 200–300, and weighing…
- figurehead noun A carved figure on the prow of a sailing ship.
- fill verb To trim (a yard) so that the wind blows on the after side of the sails.
- fin noun The conning tower of a submarine.
- finger noun Clipping of finger pier (“a shorter, narrower pier projecting from a larger dock”).
- fire-escape knot noun A series of evenly spaced overhand knots in a rope, which make it more secure for climbing or descending. Often used for fire escapes and…
- fireball noun A class of sailing dinghy with a single trapeze and a symmetrical spinnaker, sailed by a crew of two.
- fireman noun A person (originally a man) who keeps the fire going underneath a steam boiler (originally, shoveling coal by hand), particularly on a…
- fireship noun A wooden ship set alight and then sent floating into an enemy flotilla, with the aim of spreading the fire among them.
- first port of call noun The first port that a vessel calls in at after the start of a voyage
- first-rate adj Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having at least 100 guns across three gun decks, a complement of 850–875, and…
- fish verb To repair (a spar or mast) by fastening a beam or other long object (often called a fish) over the damaged part (see Noun above).
- fishfall noun A kind of tackle on a davit.
- flag noun A flag flown by a ship to show the presence on board of the admiral; the admiral himself, or his flagship.
- flag carrier noun An aircraft carrier serving as a flagship.
- flag officer noun A naval officer with the rank of rear admiral or above. Such officers are entitled to fly a personal flag, especially on the flagship.
- flag rank noun The rank of a flag officer.
- flag-hopping noun The unethical practice of registering a vessel under a series of different flags of convenience so as to circumvent regulations etc.
- flagship noun The ship occupied by the fleet's commander (usually an admiral); it denotes this by flying his flag.
- flake noun A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on while calking, etc.
- flank adj Maximum. Historically faster than full speed (the most a vessel can sustain without excessive engine wear or risk of damage), now…
- flare noun The increase in width of most ship hulls with increasing height above the waterline.
- fleet noun A number of vessels in company, especially war vessels; also, the collective naval force of a country, etc.
- fleet captain noun A captain in command of a fleet, convoy, or flotilla.
- fleet race noun A race in sport sail yachting where a squadron of sailboats race as a fleet, against one another, on the same course, at the same time.
- fleet racing noun A type of sport sail yachting event where a squadron of sailboats race as a fleet, against one another, on the same course, at the same…
- flemish noun Ellipsis of Flemish coil (“a rope that has been arranged into a neat, flat spiral coil”).
- Flemish eye noun An eye splice formed by unlaying one strand of a rope's end and laying it up round the eye formed by the other portion of the rope's end.
- flight controller noun The person at the foiling controls to operate the hydrofoils on a boat or ship
- Flinders bar noun A vertical soft iron bar placed in a tube typically on the fore side of a compass binnacle, used to counteract the horizontal effect of…
- flivver noun A destroyer of the United States Navy with a displacement of less than 1,000 tons.
- float-on float-off noun A form of marine vessel which allows large floating objects (such as other ships, or oil platforms, etc) to be floated atop and floated off…
- floating dock noun a dry dock which can float, and is submersible when a ship is entering or leaving it.
- floaty adj Of a ship: having a shallow draft (the depth from the waterline to the bottom of a vessel's hull), and thus drawing less (that is, floating…
- flog a dead horse verb To attempt to get extra work out of a ship's crew during the dead horse period.
- flog someone round the fleet verb To row a prisoner around the fleet, where he would receive a number of lashes at each ship in turn, as a penalty for serious offences.
- floor noun That part of the bottom of a vessel on each side of the keelson which is most nearly horizontal.
- flotilla noun A small fleet of warships (usually of the same class), or a fleet of small ships.
- flotsam and jetsam noun The remains of a shipwreck still floating in the water.
- fluke noun Any of the triangular blades at the end of an anchor, designed to catch the ground.
- fly noun That part of a compass on which the points are marked; the compass card.
- flyby noun A sailby performed by a hydrofoil vessel while hydrofoiling.
- flying noun The action of sustained hydrodynamic lift on hydrofoils lifting the vessel hull lifted out of the water, for sustained motion across water.
- flying bridge noun A (usually open) area on top of, or at the side of, a ship's pilothouse, serving as an operating station for the officers in good weather…
- foil noun Clipping of hydrofoil.
- foiling noun Clipping of hydrofoiling (“the action of sustained hydrodynamic lift on hydrofoils lifting the vessel hull lifted out of the water, for…
- foo-foo band noun An impromptu musical band on late 19th-century sailing vessels, made up of members of the ship's crew.
- foot noun The bottom edge of a sail.
- footloose adj Of a sail: not properly secured at the bottom.
- footrope noun a rope attached to the lower part of a sail
- fore noun The front part of a vessel.
- fore and aft adj parallel with the keel, that is, going from bow to stern (as opposed to square-rigged).
- fore- prefix The fore of a ship.
- fore-and-aft-rigged adj having its main sails rigged onto spars or stays parallel to the keel
- forebeam noun A horizontal spar across the bow of some sailing vessels, used to stabilize the hulls of a catamaran, to secure a bowsprit, or to tie down…
- forebody noun The part of the vessel forward of amidships; foreship, forecastle.
- forecastle noun A raised part of the upper deck at the front of a ship; the structure of this part of the ship; the crew's quarters located within it.
- foredraft noun The draft at the fore perpendicular. Also "fore draft".
- foreganger noun A short rope grafted on a harpoon, to which a longer line may be attached.
- forehander noun The crew member in charge of managing the foresail.
- forehold noun The forward or front part of the hold of a ship.
- foremast noun The mast nearest the bow, on a sailing ship with more than one mast or a non-sailing ship with any masts; the second-tallest mast on a…
- foremost adj Closest to the bow.
- foreplane noun A relatively flat surface located well forward of a vehicle's center of gravity used for stability and, when movable, used for steering and…
- forereach verb To shoot ahead, especially when going in stays.
- foresail noun The lowest (and usually the largest) square sail hung on the foremast
- forestaff noun An instrument formerly used at sea for taking the altitudes of heavenly bodies, later replaced by the sextant.
- forestay noun A stay that extends from the top of the foremast to the bow or bowsprit of a sailing ship
- forestem noun The front part of a vessel.
- foretackle noun The tackle that attaches or hooks on to the pendant (on a masthead or foremast) for the purposes of hoisting, tautening, or securing a stay.
- foretop noun A platform at the top of the foremast, supported by the trestle trees.
- foreyard noun A yard on the lower mast of a square-rigged foremast of a ship used to support the foresail.
- forrard adv Forward.
- forward adv At, near, or towards the bow of a vessel (with the frame of reference within the vessel).
- fother verb To stop a leak with oakum or old rope (often by drawing a sail under the hull).
- foul verb To entangle.
- founder verb To cause to flood and sink, as a ship.
- fourth-rate adj Of a Royal Navy ship of the line in the Napoleonic Era: having 50–60 guns across two gun decks, a complement of 320–420, and weighing…
- fox noun A small strand of rope made by twisting several rope-yarns together. Used for seizings, mats, sennits, and gaskets.