CUT v.
to retrench; to curtail; as, to cut down expenses. (d) (Naut.) To raze; as, to cut down a frigate into a sloop. -- To cut the knot or the Gordian knot, to dispose of a difficulty summarily; to solve it by prompt, arbitrary action, rather than by skill or patience. -- To cut lots, to determine lots by cuttings cards;…
LINE n.
a ship of war large enough to have a place in the line of battle; a vessel superior to a frigate; usually, a seventy-four, or three-decker; -- called also line of battle ship. Totten. -- To cross the line, to cross the equator, as a vessel at sea. -- To give a person line, to allow him more or less liberty until it…
MAN-OF-WAR n.
the purposes of war, esp. one of large size; a ship of war. Man-of-war bird (Zoöl.), The frigate bird; also applied to the skua gulls, and to the wandering albatross. -- Man-of-war hawk (Zoöl.), the frigate bird. -- Man-of-war's man, a sailor serving in a ship of war. -- Portuguese man-of-war (Zoöl.), any species o…
SPAR n.
surface of the water. -- Spar deck (Naut.), the upper deck of a vessel; especially, in a frigate, the deck which is continued in a straight line from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, and on which spare spars are usually placed. See under Deck. -- Spar torpedo (Naut.), a torpedo carried on the end of a spar usually…