Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun One of the upright partitions dividing a ship into compartments and serving to add structural rigidity and to prevent the spread of leakage or fire.
- noun A partition or wall serving a similar purpose in a vehicle, such as an aircraft or spacecraft.
- noun A wall or an embankment, as in a mine or along a waterfront, that acts as a protective barrier.
- noun Chiefly New England A horizontal or sloping structure providing access to a cellar stairway.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A partition.
- noun A water-face of a wharf, pier, or sea-wall.
- noun A horizontal or inclined door giving access from the outside of a house to the cellar.
- noun In hydraulic mining the pressure-box or -tank at the end of a water-ditch or flume from which the water-pipes lead to the nozles.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun (Naut.) A partition in a vessel, to separate apartments on the same deck.
- noun A structure of wood or stone, to resist the pressure of earth or water; a partition wall or structure, as in a mine; the limiting wall along a water front.
- noun a line beyond which a wharf must not project; -- usually, the harbor line.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical A
vertical partition dividing thehull intoseparate compartments ; often madewatertight toprevent excessive flooding if theship 'shull isbreached . - noun A similar partition in an
aircraft orspacecraft . - noun Mechanically, a partition or panel through which
connectors pass, or a connector designed to pass through a partition. - noun A pressure-resistant sealed barrier to any fluid in a large structure.
- noun A retaining wall along a waterfront.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a partition that divides a ship or plane into compartments
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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And the best seats include exit row seats or seats that in what are known as the bulkhead, the first row of seats.
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"You apparently decided the bulkhead was a paper hoop and tried to dive through it," said Paresi.
Breaking Point James E. Gunn
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This bulkhead, which is about four feet high, should be raised to a height of about eight feet.
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On a shelf set in the bulkhead was a chart, a telephone receiver, speaking tubes, dials with red and black hands, an array of electrometers, pressure gauges.
The Cruise of the Dry Dock T. S. Stribling 1923
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Along the bulkhead are the fancy cracker boxes, tempting a man to take one every time he goes below, and under the racks are our kerosene and molasses barrels.
Bowdoin Boys in Labrador An Account of the Bowdoin College Scientific Expedition to Labrador led by Prof. Leslie A. Lee of the Biological Department Jonathan Prince Cilley 1877
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At the foremost end of this division of the ship, so far as it was possible for my eyes to pierce the darkness -- for it seems that this run went clear to the fore-hold bulkhead, that is to say, under the powder-room, to where the fore-hold began -- were stowed the spare sails, ropes for gear, and a great variety of furniture for the equipment of a ship's yards and masts.
The Frozen Pirate 1877
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The space between the two ports was occupied by a rack, on which were arranged with much taste, a number of richly-embossed arms, pistols, swords, and daggers -- and against the bulkhead was another stand, filled with muskets and cutlasses, brightly polished.
The Pirate of the Mediterranean A Tale of the Sea William Henry Giles Kingston 1847
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But "bulkhead" seats in the first row of the coach cabin won't be as roomy as frequent fliers are accustomed to.
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Going outside, I found the servant had neglected to open the 'bulkhead' door, as usual, and my wise little biddy had concluded to go down-cellar through the kitchen.
The Continental Monthly, Vol. 1, No. 5, May, 1862 Devoted To Literature And National Policy Various
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He turned that way, struck another match, and discovered the white face of the other instrument looking at him from the bulkhead, meaningly, not to be gainsaid, as though the wisdom of men were made unerring by the indifference of matter.
Prolagus commented on the word bulkhead
(Rox in the box, by The Decemberists)
January 19, 2011