Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun See
caring .
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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He held on to the reef-earing as long as he could, but the flapping of the sail soon caused him to call out to his shipmates, "I can hold on no longer," and before any aid could be given he had slipped his hold and fallen into the sea, and the surges covered him over.
The Shellback's Progress In the Nineteenth Century Walter Runciman 1892
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The captain of the top, instead of moving in, continues to sit astride the spar, dangling his legs under the weather yard-arm with the end of the close reef-earing in his hand, quite as much at his ease as any well-washed sea-bird that ever screamed defiance to a pitiless south-wester.
The Lieutenant and Commander Hall, Basil, 1788-1844 1862
chained_bear commented on the word reef-earing
"Reef-earings. The only difference between earings and reef-earings is, the former is spliced to the cringle, and the latter is rove through the cringle, having an eye spliced in it for the more easy reeving and unreeving it, in case of its being chafed, that another may easily replace it for fear of splitting the sail."
—Falconer's New Universal Dictionary of the Marine (1816), 129
October 13, 2008
bilby commented on the word reef-earing
She's cringle-roving again, just when she promised to quit.
October 13, 2008
reesetee commented on the word reef-earing
Roving earrings?
*fearful*
October 14, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word reef-earing
You're both reacting to the wrong thing. The latter is rove through the cringle. aOOOOOOOOOO!!! (< -- wolf howl at the mention of its name)
Happy Halloween. >:-|
October 14, 2008