GRATINGS. An open wood-work of cross battens and ledges forming cover for the hatchways, serving to give light and air to the lower decks. In nautical phrase, he "who can't see a hole through a grating" is excessively drunk.
GRATINGS OF THE HEAD. See [Head-gratings].
GRATUITOUS MONEY. A term officially used for bounty granted to volunteers in Lord Exmouth's expedition against Algiers.
GRAVE, To. To clean a vessel's bottom, and pay it over.
GRAVELIN. A small migratory fish, commonly reputed to be the spawn of the salmon.
GRAVELLED. Vexed, mortified.
GRAVING. The act of cleaning a ship's bottom by burning off the impurities, and paying it over with tar or other substance, while she is laid aground during the recess of the tide. (See [Breaming].)
GRAVING BEACH or Slip. A portion of the dockyard where ships were landed for a tide.
GRAVING-DOCK. An artificial receptacle used for the inspecting, repairing, and cleaning a vessel's bottom. It is so contrived that after the ship is floated in, the water may run out with the fall of the tide, the shutting of the gates preventing its return.
GRAVITATION. The natural tendency or inclination of all bodies towards the centre of the earth; and which was established by Sir Isaac Newton, as the great law of nature.