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Great Expectations vocabulary
8 nautical terms (boats, equipment, etc.)
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gunwale
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tags: [nautical]
► definition
Definition:the top edge of the side of a boat.Originally [it] was the "gun ridge" on a sailing warship. This represented the strengthening wale or structural band added to the design of the ship, at and above the level of a gun deck. It was designed to accommodate the stresses imposed by the use of artillery.text from Wikipedia, licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike
photo: by ajvocab.com
► uses
Uses:
Huck was sitting on the gunwale of a flatboat, listlessly dangling his feet in the water and looking very melancholy.
Mark Twain. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876)
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But he put his foot on the gunnel and rocked her,
Mark Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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we saw the blood pouring from him as he fell across the gunwale.
Louis Becke. The Strange Adventure of James Shervinton (1902)
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Then he jumped cannonball style over the side, rocking the boat so hard I grabbed onto the gunnels.
Sue Monk Kidd. The Mermaid Chair, p.217 (2005)
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He heard the stick break and the line begin to rush out over the gunwale of the skiff.
Ernest Hemingway. The Old Man and the Sea, p.51 (1952)
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He dipped his hand in the water over the boat's gunwale,
Charles Dickens. Great Expectations (1861)
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“Sit down, Mr. Wyatt,” replied the captain, somewhat sternly, “you will capsize us if you do not sit quite still. Our gunwhale is almost in the water now.”
Edgar Allan Poe. The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 4: The Oblong Box (1844)
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The gunwale was lipping astern. Several times we shipped a little water, and my breeches and the tails of my coat were all soaking wet before we had gone a hundred yards.
Robert Louis Stevenson. Treasure Island (1883)
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