LINSEY-WOLSEY. A stuff in extensive use commercially; it is a mixture of flax and wool.
LINSTOCK. In olden times it was a staff about 3 feet long, having a sharp point at the foot to stick in the deck, and a forked head to hold a lighted match. It gave way to the less dangerous match-tub, and since that to gun-locks, friction-tubes, &c. Shakspeare in _Henry V._ says:
"And the nimble gunner With _linstock_ now the devilish cannon touches, And down goes all before them."
LINTRES. Ancient canoes capable of carrying three lintrarii.
LIP. Insolence and bounce.
LIPPER. A sea which washes over the weather chess-tree, perhaps _leaper_. Also, the spray from small waves breaking against a ship"s bows.
LIPPING. Making notches on the edge of a cutla.s.s or sword.
LIPS OF SCARPHS. The substance left at the ends, which would otherwise become sharp, and be liable to split.
LIQUORS. A term applicable to all fluids, but at sea it is expressly applied to alcoholic spirits.
LIRA. An Italian coin. A silver coin of about tenpence sterling.
LISBONINE. A national denomination for the moidore.
LISSOM. Active, supple.
LIST, TO. To incline to one side; as "the ship has a list to port,"
_i.e._ leans over to that side.
LIST. A roll of names, as the army and navy lists; but usually at sea it means the doctor"s list. Also, the abbreviation for _enlist_. "Why did you list?" said when a man is grumbling who has entered a service voluntarily.
LIST AND RECEIPT. The official doc.u.ment sent with officers or men of any description, discharged from one ship to another; it merely states the names and qualities, with the date of discharge.
LISTER. A sort of three-p.r.o.nged harpoon used in the salmon fisheries; also, a light spear for killing fish in general.
LISTING. A narrow strip cut off the edge of a plank, in order to expose for examination, and get at, a vessel"s timbers.
LITTER. A sort of hurdle bed, on which to carry wounded men from the field to the boats.
LITTORAL. Relating to a coast; often used as synonymous with sea-board.
LITTORARIae. Ancient coasting vessels.
LIVE, TO. To be able to withstand the fury of the elements; said of a boat or ship, &c.
LIVE-LUMBER. Pa.s.sengers, _ladies_, landsmen, cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry.
LIVELY. To lift lightly to the sea; as a boat, &c.
LIVER-FACED. Mean and cowardly, independent of complexion.
LIVERY-ARROW. A missile formerly supplied to our ships of war.
LIVE-Sh.e.l.l. One filled with its charge of powder or other combustible.
It is also called a _loaded sh.e.l.l_.
LIVID SKY. That blackish red and blue which pervade the sky, previous to an easterly gale, at sea:--
"Deep midnight now involves the livid skies Where eastern breezes, yet enervate, rise."--_Falconer._
LIZARD. A piece of rope, sometimes with two legs, and one or more iron thimbles spliced into it. It is used for various purposes; one is often made fast to the topsail-tye, for the buntlines to reeve through, to confine them to the centre of the yard. A lizard with a tail and thimble is used as a fair lead, to lead out where the lift runs in a line with the object. The lower boom topping-lift is thus helped by carrying the lizard out to the fore-brace block. In yards sent aloft ready for crossing, the lizard confines the yard rope until the order is given, "Sway across," when, letting the lizard run, all cross simultaneously.
LIZIERE. In fortification, a word sometimes used for _berm_ (which see).
A narrow bank of earth supporting the parapet when deformed by fire.
LLANOS [Sp. _plains_]. Immense plains in S. America, with alternate arid patches and verdure.
LLOYD"S. An establishment which, from a subscription coffee-house, has grown to a society which has transacted the bulk of the British insurance business regularly since 1601; and even before that period a.s.surers had met there "time out of mind." A register is kept of every ship, whether foreign or English, with the place where it was built, the materials used in its construction, its age, state of repair, and general character.
LLOYD"S AGENTS. Persons appointed in all parts of the commercial world, to forward accounts of the arrivals and departures of vessels, or any information interesting to the underwriters.
LLOYD"S LIST. A gazette, published formerly twice a week, but latterly daily, under the superintendence of a committee chosen by the subscribers, and transmitted over the whole world.
LLOYD"S REGISTER. An annual list of British and foreign shipping, ranked by letter and number in different cla.s.ses.
LLOYD"S SURVEYORS. Practical persons specially appointed in London, and most of the out-ports of the United Kingdom, to investigate the state and condition of merchant-ships for the underwriters.
LOADED-Sh.e.l.l. A sh.e.l.l filled with lead, to be thrown from a mortar. The term is also used for _live-sh.e.l.ls_.
LOADING-CHAMBER. The paterero, or inserting piece in breech-loading.
LOADING OF A SHIP. _See_ CARGO and LADING.
LOADSMAN. A pilot, or person who conducts into or out of harbours.
LOADSTONE. _See_ MAGNET and DIPPING-NEEDLE.
LOAD WATER-LINE. The draught of water exhibited when the ship is properly loaded; in a word, her proper displacement, not always sufficiently considered.
LOAD WATER-SECTION. A horizontal section at the load water-line in the ship-builder"s draught.
LOAFER. One who hangs about a dock, ready for every job except a hard one.
LOATH TO DEPART. Probably the first line of some favourite song; formerly the air was sounded in men-of-war, when going foreign, for the women and children to quit the ship.
LOB. A sluggish b.o.o.by; whence _lubber_. Also, that part of a tree where it first divides into branches.
LOBBY. A name sometimes given to an apartment close before the great cabin bulk-head.
LOB-c.o.c.k. A lubber; an old term of utter contempt.