The Sailor's Word-Book / An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc.

by W. H. Smyth

GROPERS. The ships stationed in the Channel and North Sea.

GROPING. An old mode of catching trout by tickling them with the hands under rocks or banks. Shakspeare makes the clown in "Measure for Measure" say that Claudio's offence was—

"Groping for trouts in a peculiar river."

GROSETTA. A minute coin of Ragusa, somewhat less than a farthing.

GROUND, To. To take the bottom or shore; to be run aground through ignorance, violence, or accident.—To strike ground. To obtain soundings.

GROUNDAGE. A local duty charged on vessels coming to anchor in a port or standing in a roadstead, as anchorage.

GROUND-BAIT, or Groundling. A loach or loche.

GROUND-GRU. See [Anchor-ice].

GROUND-GUDGEON. A little fish, the Cobitis barbatula.

GROUND-ICE. See [Anchor-ice].