Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A water-tight chamber used for conveying people ashore from a wreck.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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The life-car was moving along the upper line bound for the wreck.
The Knights of the White Shield Up-the-Ladder Club Series, Round One Play Edward A. Rand
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One or two halts occurred on the way, but the venture was ultimately successful, and Charlie saw the life-car as the crew of the wreck eagerly seized it.
The Knights of the White Shield Up-the-Ladder Club Series, Round One Play Edward A. Rand
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That life-car, sir, was invented by Captain Douglass Ottinger, and this is the first one ever used.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 099, March, 1876 Various
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Among the arrivals by the life-car was the skipper of the "White Shield," and there was also a man wrapped in a cloak.
The Knights of the White Shield Up-the-Ladder Club Series, Round One Play Edward A. Rand
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"Take out that life-car, too!" shouted Captain Peters.
The Knights of the White Shield Up-the-Ladder Club Series, Round One Play Edward A. Rand
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The Ottinger life-car, the patent for which the generous inventor gave to the; public, is simply an egg-shaped case with bands of cork about it.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 17, No. 099, March, 1876 Various
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To be shut up in this manner in so dark and gloomy a receptacle, for the purpose of being drawn, perhaps at midnight, through a surf of such terrific violence that no boat can live in it, can not be a very agreeable alternative; but the emergencies in which the use of the life-car is called for, are such as do not admit of hesitation or delay.
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"Suthin 'in that life-car!" sang out one of the men.
The Knights of the White Shield Up-the-Ladder Club Series, Round One Play Edward A. Rand
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Where the life-car is drawn on the slip-noosewhere the heat hatches pale-green eggs in the dented sand; 740
Walt Whitman 1900
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Then the life-boat — or the life-car, as the lady at the window of the hotel vaguely designated it — went bumping and jingling away upon its invisible wheels, with the helmsman
The Europeans 1878
qms commented on the word life-car
The best choice for rescue by far -
As cozy as man and his wife are!
When next you're ship-wrecked
Be sure you select
The safety and speed of the life-car!
October 6, 2016
qms commented on the word life-car
After posting my Word of the Day limerick on life-car I became curious to see what one looked like and to know if they had ever been put to practical use, so I ventured on to the net and discovered an interesting story.
An American named Joseph Francis invented the life-car in the mid 19th Century and it was used in the saving of many lives from wrecks near the shore. Francis’s achievement seems to have been first recognized by foreign nations and he received recognition and awards from many countries. He was in Europe, perhaps to accept some of these accolades, when a Captain Douglass Ottinger of the United States Revenue Cutter Service applied to congress for a grant to recompense him for the invention of the life-car. Since Francis was not there to dispute Ottinger’s claim the congress awarded Ottinger $10,000. Only many years later was Francis recognized by congress with a gold medal. You can read an account of the matter here and see an image of a life-car here.
How shameful that envious strife mar
What ought to be Francis's bright star,
For Ottinger's claim
Occluded his fame
For gifting the world with his life-car.
October 6, 2016