The Seaman's Friend / Containing a treatise on practical seamanship, with plates, a dictionary of sea terms, customs and usages of the merchant service

by Richard Henry Dana

To brace a yard, is to turn it about horizontally.

To brace up, is to lay the yard more fore-and-aft.

To brace in, is to lay it nearer square.

To brace aback. (See Aback.)

To brace to, is to brace the head yards a little aback, in tacking or wearing.

Brails. Ropes by which the foot or lower corners of fore-and-aft sails are hauled up.

Brake. The handle of a ship's pump.

Break. To break bulk, is to begin to unload.

To break ground, is to lift the anchor from the bottom.

To break shear, is when a vessel, at anchor, in tending, is forced the wrong way by the wind or current, so that she does not lie so well for keeping herself clear of her anchor.