Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A small crane that projects over the side of a ship and is used to hoist boats, anchors, and cargo.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Nautical, one of a pair of projecting pieces of wood or iron on the side or stern of a vessel, used for suspending or lowering and hoisting a boat, by means of sheaves and pulleys.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A spar formerly used on board of ships, as a crane to hoist the flukes of the anchor to the top of the bow, without injuring the sides of the ship; -- called also the
fish davit . - noun Curved arms of timber or iron, projecting over a ship's side of stern, having tackle to raise or lower a boat, swing it in on deck, rig it out for lowering, etc.; -- called also
boat davits .
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun nautical A
spar formerly used on board of ships, as a crane to hoist theflukes of theanchor to the top of the bow, without injuring the sides of the ship. - noun nautical, construction a
crane , often working in pairs and usually made of steel, used to lower things over an edge of a long drop off, such as lowering a maintenance trapeze down a building or launching alifeboat over the side of a ship.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a crane-like device (usually one of a pair) for suspending or lowering equipment (as a lifeboat)
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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How appalling to think that with a few more boats -- and the ship was provided with that particular kind of davit that would launch more boats -- there would have been no decision of that kind to make!
The Loss of the S. S. Titanic Its Story and Its Lessons Lawrence Beesley 1922
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"The davit tackle carried away, and they are rigging the falls," he explained, a minute or so later, and then went under to head off another attack.
THE HEATHEN 2010
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And what a shame it is being unleashed on one of the greatest presidents in our history. davit
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Listening to Cheney is like listening to Osama Bin Laden, they both have the same extremist view points and both should be in jail. davit
Cheney: Investigating CIA interrogations a political move 2009
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Her level of ignorance and stupidity is the stuff of legends. davit
Palin warns of 'Second Holocaust' if Iran gains nuclear weapons 2010
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"The davit tackle carried away, and they are rigging the falls," he explained, a minute or so later, and then went under to head off another attack.
THE HEATHEN 2010
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"The davit-tackle carried away, and they are rigging the falls," he explained a minute or so later, and then went under to head off another attack.
THE HEATHEN 2010
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This is just the Good Ole Boys of RNC wanting to get rid of an outsider that doesnt bow to them. davit
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An announcement over the loudspeaker moments earlier had warned sailors to stand clear of the twenty-six-foot motor whaleboat suspended on a davit about ten feet above the starboard deck.
The Attack on the Liberty James Scott 2009
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Hey, I suffered credit card fraud about a month ago and had to do the affa davit cancel/replace card thing...
The Morning After: Surveying the Damage BikeSnobNYC 2009
trivet commented on the word davit
(a) A spar formerly used on board of ships, as a crane to hoist the flukes of the anchor to the top of the bow, without injuring the sides of the ship; -- called also the fish davit.
(b) pl. Curved arms of timber or iron, projecting over a ship's side of stern, having tackle to raise or lower a boat, swing it in on deck, rig it out for lowering, etc.; -- called also boat davits.
(Cf. F. davier forceps, cooper's instrument, G. david davit; all probably from the proper name David.)
- Webster 1913
July 9, 2007
knitandpurl commented on the word davit
"He peered into the mirror, improving himself, unaware of me as he worked in the half-shadow of the lifeboat which hung from the davit."
"The Cat's Table" by Michael Ondaatje, in the May 16, 2011 issue of The New Yorker, p 111
May 23, 2011