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fid

Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A square bar used as a support for a topmast.
  • noun A large tapering pin used to open the strands of a rope before splicing.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Nautical, to sway into place and secure (a topmast or topgallantmast) by its fid. Also fidd.
  • noun A small thick lump.
  • noun A piece or plug of tobacco.
  • noun A bar of wood or metal used to support or steady anything.
  • noun Nautical: A square bar of wood or iron, with a shoulder at one end, used to support a topmast or topgallantmast when swayed up into place. The fid passes through a square hole in the heel of its mast, and its ends rest on the trestletrees.
  • noun A conical pin of hard wood, from 12 to 24 inches long, and from 1 to 3 inches in diameter at the butt, used to open the strands of rope in splicing.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun (Naut.) A square bar of wood or iron, used to support the topmast, being passed through a hole or mortise at its heel, and resting on the trestle trees.
  • noun A wooden or metal bar or pin, used to support or steady anything.
  • noun A pin of hard wood, tapering to a point, used to open the strands of a rope in splicing.
  • noun (Mil.) A block of wood used in mounting and dismounting heavy guns.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun nautical A pointed tool without any sharp edges, used in weaving or knotwork to tighten and form up weaves or complex knots; used in sailing ships to open the strands of a rope before splicing. Compare marlinespike.
  • noun nautical A square bar of wood or iron, with a shoulder at one end, to support the weight of the topmast (on a ship).
  • noun A plug of oakum for the vent of a gun.
  • noun A small thick piece of anything.
  • noun A wooden or metal bar or pin, used to support or steady anything.
  • noun A naval euphemism for "penis", derived from the similarity of each of the above to the male reproductive organ.
  • verb To support a topmast using a fid.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Origin unknown.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Origin unknown.

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Examples

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same context (21)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. anell
  2. bluebottle
  3. dear
  4. earth-colored
  5. empid
  6. ever-busy
  7. howsoe'er
  8. indifferently
  9. malmsey
  10. mayb
  11. meetin'-house
  12. moose-calf
  13. nap-of-the-earth
  14. pesty
  15. piggin
  16. sea-mew
  17. tar-water
  18. thathad
  19. two-winged
  20. unbodied
  21. whip-handle

forms (1)

Forms

  1. fidacem

cross-references (4)

Cross-references

  1. blubber-fid
  2. hand-fid
  3. setting-fid
  4. splicing-fid

Comments

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  • chained_bear commented on the word fid

    "...the court would have heard a lively description of the Honourable Sod's furious assault upon the Captain with a brace of pistols, a boarding-axe, a naked sword and a topmast fid..."

    —Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 143

    February 13, 2008

  • chained_bear commented on the word fid

    A fid is "A square bar of wood or iron with a shoulder at one end, used to support the weight of the topmast and also the topgallantmast. Also, a tapered hand tool for opening up the strands of a rope when splicing." (A Sea of Words, 191) See also fid-hole, just because it ain't what it sounds like.

    February 23, 2008

  • glenhaven commented on the word fid

    Often used in combination with "hand", as in "Hand fid".

    February 16, 2011