Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A whiphandle.
- noun Nautical, a bar by which the rudder is turned: an old name for the tiller in small vessels.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Naut.) A bar attached to the tiller, for convenience in steering.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical A
bar attached to thetiller forconvenience insteering .
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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The captain explained how this new invention, the whipstaff, made steering much easier.
Escape From Roksamur Lackey, Mercedes 1997
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Wind and rain stung against him as he found his footing on the poop deck, the raised platform at the rear of the ship where two more crewmen had joined the steersmen in wrestling the whipstaff.
Escape From Roksamur Lackey, Mercedes 1997
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Before the whipstaff, the steersman was below decks, guiding the tiller without being able to see the sails, responding to shouted commands from above.
Escape From Roksamur Lackey, Mercedes 1997
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With the self-reliance gained while fishing aboard Dacsen, the boy began to strip the rope from the whipstaff.
Stormwarden Wurts, Janny 1989
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Blood leaned over the rail to speak to the fair young man immediately below him by the helmsman at the whipstaff.
Captain Blood Rafael Sabatini 1912
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Had not Pitt, her master, himself seized the whipstaff and put the helm hard over to swing her sharply off to starboard, she must have suffered still worse from the second volley that followed fast upon the first.
Captain Blood Rafael Sabatini 1912
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We hauled off upon the lanyard of the whipstaff, and helped the man at helm.
Gulliver's Travels 1896
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