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ent, a will or testament made by word of mouth only, before witnesses, as by a soldier or seaman, and depending on oral testimony for proof. Blackstone.

That which forms and educates; as, commerce is the nursery of seamen.

tained by untwisting and picking into loose fiber old hemp ropes; -- used for calking the seams of ships, stopping leaks, etc.

y lad would have acquired little or no useful knowledge in such a way. Macaulay. Ordinary seaman (Naut.), one not expert or fully skilled, and hence ranking below an able seaman.

To take long, loose stitches over (the raw edges of a seam) to prevent raveling.

Over and over; -- applied to a style of sewing, or to a seam, in which two edges, usually selvedges, are sewed together by passing each stitch over both.

rope (Naut.), to wind strips of tarred canvas tightly arround it. Totten. -- To parcel a seam (Naut.), to cover it with a strip of tarred canvas.

A joint or fissure, as in a coal seam.

To cover, as bottom of a vessel, a seam, a spar, etc., with tar or pitch, or waterproof composition of tallow, resin, etc.; to smear.

A lighthouse or beacon for the guidance of seamen. He . . . built a pharos, or lighthouse. Arbuthnot.

k, lustrous, and sticky substance obtained by boiling down tar. It is used in calking the seams of ships; also in coating rope, canvas, wood, ironwork, etc., to preserve them. He that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith. Ecclus. xiii. 1.

ing (Join.), molding of which the surfaces are plain figures. -- Plain sewing, sewing of seams by simple and common stitches, in distinct from fancy work, embroidery, etc.; -- distinguished also from designing and fitting garments. -- Plain song. (a) The Gregorian chant, or canto fermo; the prescribed melody of the R…

he navy. I have misused the king's press. Shak. Press gang, or Pressgang, a detachment of seamen under the command of an officer empowered to force men into the naval service. See Impress gang, under Impress. -- Press money, money paid to a man enlisted into public service. See Prest money, under Prest, a.…

To run a middle seam through, as the cloth of a sail.

An officer or seaman of a privateer.

A bed of shale over the seam. Raymond.

lative scale, rank, position, amount, value, or quality of; as, to rate a ship; to rate a seaman; to rate a pension.

A tool, hooked at the end, for enlarging or clearing seams for the reception of oakum.

n an axis, on which yarn, threads, lines, or the like, are wound; as, a log reel, used by seamen; an angler's reel; a garden reel.

To open (the seams of a vessel's planking) for the purpose of calking them. Reeming iron (Naut.), an iron chisel for reeming the seams of planks in calking ships.