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

"Let it be by the Sound, by the Belt, or anyhow, only lose not an hour."

ANY PORT IN A STORM signifies contentment with whatever may betide.

APAGOGE. A mathematical progress from one proposition to another.

APE, or Sea-ape. The long-tailed shark. Also, an active American seal.

APEEK. A ship drawn directly over the anchor is apeek: when the fore-stay and cable form a line, it is short stay apeek; when in a line with the main-stay, long stay apeek. The anchor is apeek when the cable has been sufficiently hove in to bring the ship over it.—Yards apeek. When they are topped up by contrary lifts. (See [Peak].)

APERTÆ. Ancient deep-waisted ships, with high-decked forecastle and poop.

APERTURE, in astronomy. The opening of a telescope tube next the object-glass, through which the rays of light and image of the object are conveyed to the eye. It is usually estimated by the clear diameter of the object-glass.

APEX. The summit or vertex of anything; as the upper point of a triangle.

APHELION. That point in the orbit of a planet or comet which is most remote from the sun, and at which the angular motion is slowest; being the end of the greater elliptic axis. The opposite of perihelion.

APHELLAN. The name of the double star α Geminorum, better known as Castor.