WENTLE-TRAP. The Scalaria pretiosa, a very elegant univalve shell, much valued by collectors.
WEST-COUNTRY PARSON. A fish, the hake (Gadus merluccius), is so called, from a black streak on its back, and from its abundance along our western coast.
WESTER, or Waster. A kind of trident used for striking salmon in the north.
WESTING. This term in navigation means the distance made by course or traverses to the westward; or the sun after crossing the meridian.
WESTWARD [Anglo-Saxon weste-wearde].—Westward-hoe. To the west! It was one of the cries of the Thames watermen.
WEST WIND. This and its collateral, the S.W., prevail nearly three-fourths of the year in the British seas, and though boisterous at times, are very genial on the whole.
WET. The owners and master of a ship are liable for all damage by wet. (See [Stowage].)
WET-BULB THERMOMETER. One of which the bulb is kept moist by the capillary attraction of cotton fibres from an attached reservoir.
WET-DOCK. A term used for [float] (which see), and also dock.
WETHERS. The flukes or hands of a harpoon.