REEVE, To. To pass the end of a rope through any cavity or aperture, as the channel of a block; to unreeve is the opposite.
REEVING. In polar voyaging, following up serpentine channels in the ice, till the vessel reaches open water, or reeves the pack.
REFITTING. Repairing any damages which a ship may have sustained.
REFLECTING CIRCLE. An instrument used instead of a sextant, quintant, or quadrant; but the quintant embraces as much—viz. 152 degrees. The instrument reflects a celestial or any distant object so as to bring the image into contact with any object seen direct, by which their angular distance is measured, as in lunar distances.
REFLECTION, Angle of. Whether the instance be a ray of light or a cannon-ball, the angle of reflection will always be found equal to the angle of incidence.
REFLUX. The ebbing of the tide, or reflow of the waters, which have been pressed back.
REFORMADES. The sons of the nobility and gentry who served in the navy under letters from Charles II., and were allowed table-money and other encouragements to raise the character of the service.
REFRACTING TELESCOPE. That through which objects are seen directly through its double object-glass.
REFRACTION. An inflection of the rays of light: that property of the atmosphere which bends the rays of light in their passage to the eye from a different density, and causes the altitude of heavenly bodies to appear greater than it really is, especially near the horizon. (See [Terrestrial Refraction].)
REFUSAL OF A PILE. Its stoppage or obstruction, when it cannot be driven further in.