Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun “The upper part of the stern of a vessel” (Totten); “the uppermost part, frame, or rail of a ship behind, over the poop” (Phillips, 1706).
- noun Same as
taffrail (which is now the usual form in this sense).
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A carved
panel - noun nautical The flat upper part of a ship's
stern above thetransom , oftendecorated withcarvings - noun nautical The
taffrail
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Yet we should oftener look over the tafferel of our craft, like curious passengers, and not make the voyage like stupid sailors picking oakum.
Walden 2004
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Accordingly, it had one hundred feet in the beam, one hundred feet in the keel, and one hundred feet from the bottom of the sternpost to the tafferel.
Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 8 Charles Herbert Sylvester
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Doggerel verse The sailor stood at the tafferel (or taffrail).
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Yet we should oftener look over the tafferel of our craft, like curious passengers, and not make the voyage like stupid sailors picking oakum.
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Yet we should oftener look over the tafferel of our craft, like curious passengers, and not make the voyage like stupid sailors picking oakum.
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I went up immediately afterwards on deck, and looking back over the tafferel, could only just see the glittering spires of Gladstonopolis in the distance.
The Fixed Period Anthony Trollope 1848
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It was my common practice to sit for hours after night-fall upon the tafferel, and strain my eyes in the attempt to distinguish objects on shore or strange sails in the distance.
The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans 1814-1815 1842
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But as soon as he felt the pain occasioned by the book in his jaws, he plunged towards the bottom of the sea with such violence, as to render the very tafferel hot, by the rapidity of the cord gliding over it.
The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans 1814-1815 1842
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Yet we should oftener look over the tafferel of our craft, like curious passengers, and not make the voyage like stupid sailors picking oakum.
Walden Henry David Thoreau 1839
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Taking two of the first soldiers who made their appearance on deck, he silently entered the boat swinging from the tafferel of the sloop, motioned the two soldiers to follow him, and then ordered the boat to be let down with all silence and despatch.
cgrimm commented on the word tafferel
(n) : a carved panel; the flat upper part of a ship's stern above the transom, often decorated with carvings
"Yet we should oftener look over the tafferel of our craft, like curious passengers, and not make the voyage like stupid sailors picking oakum." (H.D. Thoreau, Walden).
April 30, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word tafferel
Oh, that's an interesting spelling! I've always seen it taffrail. :)
April 30, 2008
dontcry commented on the word tafferel
oakum if you gottum
April 30, 2008
dailyword commented on the word tafferel
This word was used in the "Master And Commander" movie.
July 24, 2012