The Sailor's Word-Book Part 150

LET IN, TO. To fix or fit a diminished part of one plank or piece of timber into a score formed in another to receive it, as the ends of the carlings into the beams.

LET OUT, OR SHAKE OUT, A REEF, TO. To increase the dimensions of a sail, by untying the points confining a reef in it.

LET-Pa.s.s. Permission given by superior authority to a vessel, to be shown to s.h.i.+ps of war, to allow it to proceed on its voyage.

LET RUN, OR LET GO BY THE RUN. Cast off at once.

LETTER-BOARD. Another term for _name-board_ (which see).

LETTER-BOOK. A book wherein is preserved a copy of all letters and orders written by the captain of a s.h.i.+p on public service.

LETTER MEN. _See_ KING'S LETTER MEN.

LETTERS. _See_ CIRCULARS and OFFICIAL LETTERS.

LETTERS OF MART OR MARQUE. A commission formerly granted by the lords of the admiralty, or by the admiral of any distant station, to a merchant-s.h.i.+p or privateer, to cruize against and make prizes of the enemy's s.h.i.+ps. The s.h.i.+p so commissioned is also called a _letter of marque_. The act of parliament requires that on granting letters of marque and reprisal, the captain and two sureties shall appear and give security. In 1778 it was decided that all the s.h.i.+ps taken from France by vessels having letters of marque only against the Americans, became droits of admiralty. This commission was forfeitable for acts of cruelty or misconduct.

LETTERS OF REPRISAL. The same as _letters of marque_.

LETTUCE-LAVER. The edible sea-weed _Ulva lactuca_.

LEVANT. A wind coming from the east, which freshens as the sun rises, and subsides as it declines--_To levant_, to desert.

LEVANTER. A strong and raw easterly wind in the Mediterranean.

LEVANTS. Land-springs on the coasts of Suss.e.x and Hamps.h.i.+re.

LEVEE. A French word for a mole or causeway, adopted of late for river embankments of magnitude, as those of the Po, the Thames, and the Mississippi.

LEVEL-ERROR. The microscopic deviation of the axis of a transit instrument from the horizontal position.

LEVELING. The art of finding how much higher or lower horizontally any given point on the earth's surface is, than another point on the same; practised in various ways.

LEVELLED OUT. Any line continued out from a given point, or intersection of an angle, in a horizontal direction.

LEVEL-LINES. Lines determining the shape of a s.h.i.+p's body horizontally, or square from the middle line of the s.h.i.+p.

LEVELS. Horizontal lines; or as a base square to a perpendicular bob.

LEVER. In the marine steam-engine, the lever and counter-balance weight are fixed upon the wiper-shaft, to form an equipoise to the valves.

There is one on each side of the cylinder. (_See_ SPANNER.)--Also, an inflexible bar of iron or wood to raise weights, which takes rank as the first and most simple of the mechanical powers.--_To lever._ An old word for unloading a s.h.i.+p.

LEVERAGE. The amount of a lever power.

LEVES. Very light open boats of the ancients.

LEVET. The blast of a trumpet or horn.

LEVIN. The old term for lightning.

LEVY. An enrolment or conscription.--_To levy._ To raise recruits.

LEWER. A provincialism for handspike; a corrupt form of _lever_.

LEWIS-HOLES. Two holes in the surface of a mortar, superseding ears.

LEWTH [from the Anglo-Saxon _lywd_]. A place of shelter from the wind.

LEX, OR LEAX. The Anglo-Saxon term for salmon.

L.G. These uncials on a powder-barrel mean large-grain powder.

LIBERA PISCARIA. A law-term denoting a fishery free to any one.

LIBERTY. Permission to go on sh.o.r.e or s.h.i.+p-visiting.

LIBERTY-DAY. A day announced for permitting a part of the crew to go ash.o.r.e.

LIBERTY-LIQUOR. Spirits formerly allowed to be purchased when seamen had visitors; now forbidden.

LIBERTY-MEN. Those on leave of absence.

LIBERTY-TICKET. A doc.u.ment specifying the date and extent of the leave granted to a seaman or marine proceeding on his private affairs.

LIBRA. The seventh sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about the 21st of September; the commencement of this constellation, where the equator intersects the ecliptic, is called the _autumnal equinox_, from night and day being equal.

LIBRATION OF THE MOON. _See_ EVECTION.

LIBURNA, OR LIBURNICA. Light ancient galliots, both for sails and oars; of the latter from one rank to five; so called from the Liburni, pirates of the Adriatic.

LICENSE. An official permission from the Board of Trade, to such persons as it thinks fit to supply seamen or apprentices for merchant-s.h.i.+ps in the United Kingdom. (_See_ RUNNER, LICENSED.)

LICK. In common parlance is a blow. To do anything partially, is to _give it a lick and a promise_, as in painting or blacking.--_To lick_, to surpa.s.s a rival, or excel him in anything.--_Lick of the tar-brush_, a seaman.

LICORN. An old name for the howitzer of the last century, then but a kind of mortar fitted on a field-carriage to fire sh.e.l.ls at low angles.

LIDO. A borrowed term signifying the sh.o.r.e or margin of the sea.

LIE A HULL. Synonymous with _hull to_, or _hulling_.

LIE ALONG, TO. (_See_ ALONG.) A s.h.i.+p is said to lie along when she leans over with a side wind.--_To lie along the land_, is to keep a course parallel with it.

LIE ATHWART, TO. When the tide slackens, and the wind is across tide, it makes a vessel ride athwart.

LIE BY, TO. Dodging under small sail under the land.

LIE IN! The order to come in from the yards when reefing, furling, or other duty is performed.

LIEN. A claim to property, and a consequent right of retention. But s.h.i.+ps cannot be the subjects of a specific lien to the creditors who supply them with necessaries, because a lien presumes possession by the creditor, and therein the power of holding it till his demands are satisfied. To prevent manifest impediment to commerce, the law of England rejects almost wholly the doctrine of lien as regards s.h.i.+ps.