An Universal Dictionary of the Marine / Or, a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases Employed in the Construction, Equipment, Furniture, Machinery, Movements, and Military Operations of a Ship. Illustrated With Variety of Original Designs of Shipping, in Different Situations; Together With Separate Views of Their Masts, Sails, Yards, and Rigging. to Which Is Annexed, a Translation of the French Sea-terms and Phrases, Collected from the Works of Mess. Du Hamel, Aubin, Saverien, &c.

by William Falconer

L.

LABOURER, to raise, or harrow the surface of the ground with the ship’s keel, in passing over a shallow.

L’ancre Laboure, the anchor comes home, shifts, or loosens from its hold.

LAC, a great lake of fresh water.

LAGAN. See Choses de la mer.

LAGON, a sort of bay.

LAGUE d’un vaisseau, the path, tract, or way of a ship, either before or behind her. See Sillage.

LAISSES & relais, a sort of bank thrown up by the waves of the sea, upon any coast.

LAMANAGE, coasting-pilotage, or the act of piloting a vessel into or out of any harbour or river.

LAMANEUR, a harbour or river-pilot.

LAMES de la mer, the waves or billows of the sea.

La Lame vient de l’avant, the sea comes a-head.

La Lame vient de l’arriere, the sea comes a-stern, the sea follows the ship.

La Lame prend par le travers, the sea strikes the ship upon the broad-side; expressed of a ship when she lies in the trough of the sea.

Courir au devant de la Lame, to scud before the sea.

LAMPES d’habitacle, the lamps of the binacle.

LAMPION, a small lamp, used to enter the ship’s magazine.

LANCER, to sheer or yaw to the starboard or larboard side of the course, by the negligence or incapacity of the steersman.

Lancer un vaisseau à l’eau, to launch a ship from the stocks into the water.

Lancer une manœuvre, to belay a rope to a cleat, or timber-head.

LANGUE de voile, the goaring of a sail, or that part which is next to the leech.

LANTERNE à gargousses, a cartridge-case, to carry the cartridges, from the ship’s magazine to the artillery, in the time of battle.

Lanterne à mitrailles, a case, box, or canister, filled with case-shot, or langrage, wherewith to charge a cannon.

LANTIONE, a sort of row-galley, navigated on the coast of China.

LARDER la bonêtte. See Bonette lardée.

Au LARGE! sheer off! the order given by the centinel on a ship’s gangway to any adjacent boat, to keep aloof.

Courir au Large! se mettre au Large, to stand off to sea; to bear out from the coast towards the offing.

LARGUE, the offing, sea-room, out at sea.

Vent Largue, a large, or quartering wind.

LARGUER, to relax, or loosen, expressed of a ship that strains violently in a high sea, so as to open in several places.

Larguer une amarre, to cast off, or let go a belayed rope.

LASSER, or Lacer une voile, to reef a course with a reef-line.

LATINE, voile Latine, a lateen sail.

LATITUDE, latitude.

LATTES à baux, the ledges placed between the beams.

Lattes de caillebotis, the battens or laths of the gratings.

Lattes de galere, a sort of broad thin beams, used to support the decks of a gallery.

LAZARET, a lazaretto, or building to receive persons while performing quarentine, &c.

LÉ, the fair way of a channel, harbour, or river.

LEBESCHE, the south-west wind, in the dialect of Provence.

LEGE, light, without a cargo of any kind; understood also of a ship which is not sufficiently ballasted.

LEST, a general name for any sort of ballast.

Lest bon, or bon Lest, good ballast, or ballast which lies firmly in the hold, without disordering the pumps; as shingle, gravel, &c.

Lest de plongeurs, a weight used by the divers in the coral-fishery: it is fastened securely to their waists, to balance them in the water, and keep them steady, so as to traverse the waves easily, without being tossed about.

Lest gros, or gros Lest, heavy ballast, composed of large stones, or pigs of iron.

Lest lavé, washed shingle ballast.

Lest mauvais, bad ballast, as sand, salt, &c.

Le Lest roule, the ballast shifts.

Voiles à Lest, port-sails, or pieces of canvas depending, from the port-hole of the ship into which the ballast is thrown, to the side of the ballast-lighter, to prevent the ballast from falling into the water.

LESTAGE, the ballasting of a ship, or furnishing her with ballast.

LESTER, to ballast a vessel, or furnish her with ballast.

LESTEUR, a ballast-lighter.

LETTRES de reprisailles, letters of mart.

Lettre de mer, a passport.

LEVÉE, a swelling sea.

Il y a de la Levée, the sea rises, there is a broken or boiling sea.

LEVE-rame, unship the oars! the order to the rowers to lay in their oars.

LEVER l’amure, to tack, or shift the tack, to put about.

Lever l’ancre, to weigh the anchor.

Lever l’ancre avec la chaloupe, to weigh the anchor by the buoy-rope in the long-boat. See Ancre.

Lever l’ancre d’affourche avec le navire. See Lever l’ancre, &c.

Lever la fourrure du cable, to take the plat, or other service, off from the cable.

Lever le lof de grand voile, to haul up the weather clew-garnet of the main-sail.

Lever les terres, to survey the coasts, in order to draw a chart thereof.

Lever un objet avec la boussole, to set a distant object by the compass to discover its bearing.

LEVIER, a lever formed of a handspike or crow.

Levier à croc, a clawed-handspike.

LIAISON, the connecting or fastening together the several members or pieces of timber of which a ship is composed.

LIBOURET, a line or snare for fishing of mackarel.

LIEN de fer, an iron hoop used on several occasions in ship-building.

Lien du governail, the iron hoop which encircles the head of the rudder above the mortise of the tiller, to strengthen it in that place.

LIEU, a league, or measure of three miles, common in navigation.

LIEURES, the lower futtocks of a boat. See Genoux.

LIEUTENANT-amiral. See Vice-Amiral.

Lieutenant-général des armées navales, a rear admiral in the French navy.

Lieutenant de vaisseau, the lieutenant of a ship of war.

LIGNE, a line of battle.

Marcher en Ligne, to sail in a line.

Ligne d’eau, a water-line.

Ligne d’eau du vaisseau chargé, the load-water line.

Vaisseau percé d’un coup de canon, à la Ligne de l’eau, or à fleur-d’eau, a ship which has received a shot between wind and water.

Ligne de fond, a sounding-line, or lead-line.

Ligne du fort, the extreme breadth of a ship.

LIGNES, small cords or lines, used on several occasions at sea.

Lignes d’amarrage, seisings, or lashings; also the cable-bends.

LINGUET, the pawl of a capstern.

LIOUBE, the scarf by which a jury-mast is attached to the stump of a mast that has been carried away.

LISSE, or Carreau, a name sometimes, but improperly, given to the wales in general: it is only applied with propriety to the upper ones, known by the name of rails, and to the wing-transom. See Ceintes.

Lisse de hourdi, the wing-transom.

Lisse de la rabbatue, the sheer-rail, or drift-rail.

Lisse du plat-bord, the waist-rail.

Lisse de pont. See Barre du pont.

Lisses de porte-aubans, the channel-rails.

LIT, the bed or channel in which a river runs.

Lit de marée, a tide-way, a part in the seas where a current flows, or where there is a flux and reflux of the tide.

Lit du vent, the source or direction of the wind.

LIURE, the gammoning of the bowsprit.

LIVRE à livre, a phrase which implies a participation of gain or loss of every owner of a ship’s cargo, in proportion to his share.

LOCH, or Lok, a log and line.

LOF, the weather-side of a ship, or that which is to windward of the masts.

Aller à Lof, to sail close to the wind.

Bouter le Lof, to trim all sharp, to spring the luff.

Etre au Lof, to be upon a wind, or close-hauled.

Tenir le Lof, to keep the wind, or weather-gage of, to keep to windward of.

Lof au lof, luff boy, luff! the order to steer the ship close to the wind.

Lof tout, put the helm a-lee!

Lof pour lof, hard a-weather! the order to the helmsman to veer, or wear, and bring the wind on the other side of the ship.

Lof is also the weather-clue of a sail; hence,

Léve le Lof de la grand voile, or léve le grand Lof! haul up the weather-clue of the main-sail!

LOGE, the birth or cabin of an inferior officer.

LOIER, the wages or pay of a seaman.

LONGIS, the tressel-trees of the tops, &c.

LONGUEUR de la quille, portant sur terre, the length of the keel upon a right line.

Longueur de l’étrave à l’étambord, the length of a ship at the height of the stem, or the distance between the top of the stem and the top of the stern-post.

Longueur du cable, a measure of 120 fathoms, usually called a cable’s length at sea.

LOQUETS d’écoutilles, the hoops or clasps of the scuttles.

LOVER, or Rouer, to coil away a cable. See Rouer.

LOUVOYER, to ply to windward.

Louvoyer sur onze pointes, to lie up, within eleven points of the other tack, or to fall five points and a half from the wind.

En LOUVOIANT le vaisseau panche sur le côté, to heel greatly, or incline to one side, as the ship sails upon a wind.

LOXODROMIE, an oblique course in navigation, or a course which crosses the meridians at equal and oblique angles.

LOXODROMIQUES, tables of difference of latitude and departure.

LUMIERE du canon, the touch-hole of a cannon.

Lumiere de pompe, the hole in the side of a pump, through which the water is discharged upon the deck, or into the pump-dale.

LUNETTE d’approche, ou de long vue, a telescope, or perspective-glass.

LUZIN, a small line called housing, or house-line.