STRETCH ALONG A BRACE, To. To lay it along the decks in readiness for the men to lay hold of; called manning it.
STRETCHER. See [Sheer-pole].
STRETCHERS. Narrow pieces of wood placed athwart the bottom of a boat, for the rowers to place their feet against, that they may communicate greater effort to their oars. Also, cross-pieces placed between a boat's sides to keep them apart when hoisted up and griped. Colloquially, a stretcher means a lie exaggerated to absurdity.
STRETCH OUT! In rowing, is the order to pull strong; to bend forward to the utmost.
STRICTLAND. An archaic term for an isthmus.
STRIKE, To. A ship strikes when she in any way touches the bottom. Also, to lower anything, as the ensign or top-sail in saluting, or as the yards, topgallant-masts, and top-masts in a gale. It is also particularly used to express the lowering of the colours in token of surrender to a victorious enemy.
STRIKE DOWN! The order to lower casks, &c., into the hold.
STRIKERS. Men furnished with harpoons or grains to attack fish; hence the term [dolphin-striker] (which see), where these men place themselves.
STRIKE SOUNDINGS, To. To gain bottom, or the first soundings, by the deep-sea lead, on coming in from sea.
STRING [Anglo-Saxon stræng]. In ship-building, a strake within side, constituting the highest range of planks in a ship's ceiling, and it answers to the sheer-strake outside, to the scarphs of which it gives strength.