CHAMFER. The cutting or taking off a sharp edge or angle from a plank or timber. It is also called camfering.
CHAMPION. The great champion of England, who at the coronation of the sovereign throws down his gauntlet, and defies all comers. Held at the coronations of George IV., William IV., and Victoria, by a naval officer, a middy in 1821.
CHANCERY, In. When a ship gets into irons. (See [Irons].)
CHANCY. Dangerous.
CHANDLER, Ship. Dealer in general stores for ships.
CHANGE. In warrantry, is the voluntary substitution of a different voyage for a merchant ship than the one originally specified or agreed upon, an act which discharges the insurers. (See [Deviation].)
CHANGEY-FOR-CHANGEY. A rude barter among men-of-war's men, as bread for vegetables, or any "swap."
CHANNEL. In hydrography, the fair-way, or deepest part of a river, harbour, or strait, which is most convenient for the track of shipping. Also, an arm of the sea, or water communication running between an island or islands and the main or continent, as the British Channel. In an extended sense it implies any passage which separates lands, and leads from one ocean into another, without distinction as to shape.
CHANNEL-BOLTS. The long bolts which pass through all the planks, and connect the channel to the side.
CHANNEL-GROPERS. The home-station ships cruising in the Channel; usually small vessels to watch the coast in former times, and to arrest smugglers.