Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A rope rove through a block.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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For a single instant there was a horror-stricken pause; then tools were flung recklessly aside, the tackle-fall was let go and the timber suffered to fall unheeded to the ground again, and the entire gang with one accord followed in Bob's wake, hastily snatching up ropes, boat - hooks, poles, oars, anything likely to be useful, as they ran.
The Pirate Island A Story of the South Pacific Harry Collingwood 1886
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No sooner had the firing commenced, and the shot began to come whizzing over and through all parts of the ship, than Dennis, to the great amaze and scandal of his companions, dropped the side tackle-fall, and fairly ran off from his gun.
The Lieutenant and Commander Hall, Basil, 1788-1844 1862
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It was with some difficulty that I contrived, by means of tackles, to lower them to the hold, which I succeeded in accomplishing with safety excepting in one instance, when, from the tackle-fall giving way, the image fell to the bottom of the vessel, and being very brittle, was broken into pieces.
The Pacha of Many Tales Frederick Marryat 1820
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It was with some difficulty that I contrived, by means of tackles, to lower them to the hold, which I succeeded in accomplishing with safety excepting in one instance, when, from the tackle-fall giving way, the image fell to the bottom of the vessel, and being very brittle, was broken into pieces.
The Pacha of Many Tales Frederick Marryat 1820
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My faculties were benumbed, and I did not recover the power of recollection until called to by somebody to take hold of the tackle-fall, and assist to get out the launch, which I found was to be given to the captain instead of the large cutter, already in the water alongside the ship.
The Eventful History of the Mutiny and Piratical Seizure of H.M.S. Bounty: Its Cause and Consequences Sir John Barrow 1806
chained_bear commented on the word tackle-fall
"... even so the monoglots imposed a dreadful burden on Dr. Maturin, who, though he knew a few nautical terms, such as starboard and larboard, in English, had no notion of how to say 'Come up the tackle-fall in Spanish or any other language."
--Patrick O'Brian, Blue at the Mizzen, 256
March 28, 2008
nickbarnes commented on the word tackle-fall
Great word. It's the free end of the rope in a tackle (or "block and tackle"). There are two "blocks", each with several pulleys around which passes the rope, one end of which is fastened to one of the blocks. By pulling on the free end (the "fall", or tackle-fall), one endeavours to bring the blocks closer together. The force applied to the fall is multiplied by the number of plies of rope between the blocks, and this multiplication is the purpose of the whole assembly: with a ten-ply tackle one person can lift (say) half a ton.
It works because to bring the two blocks together by (say) a foot, one must pull the fall (say) ten feet (for a ten-ply tackle). Work equals force times distance, as we all know, so the force required is ten times less.
Words concerned with tackles appear a lot in O'Brian, for instance in the episode in which A+M are attempting to escape from a Parisian gaol.
May 31, 2008