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The upper edge of a vessel's or boat's side; the uppermost wale of a ship (not including the bulwarks); or that piece of timber which reaches on either side from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, being the uppermost bend, which finishes the upper works of the hull. [Written also gunnel.]

A heavy casting of metal, usually fixed near the gunwale. It has two short horn-shaped arms curving inward, between which ropes or hawsers may pass for towing, mooring, etc.

A permanent fender around a heavy boat just below the gunwale. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

An upright or curved piece of timber connecting the plank sheer with the gunwale; also, a scroll terminating a rail.

A tackle or purchase used to raise the flukes of the anchor up to the gunwale. The block used is called the fish-block.

ing to dower in freeholds. -- Free board (Naut.), a vessel's side between water line and gunwale. -- Free bond (Chem.), an unsaturated or unemployed unit, or bond, of affinity or valence, of an atom or radical. -- Free-borough men (O.Eng. Law). See Friborg. -- Free chapel (Eccles.), a chapel not subject to the juri…

A gunwale.

r holding the hammocks when not in use, also for stowing sails, and for hoisting from the gunwale to the rigging to hinder an enemy from boarding. Totten. Netting needle, a kind of slender shuttle used in netting. See Needle, n., 3.

The notch, fork, or other device on the gunwale of a boat, in which the oar rests in rowing. See Rowlock.

The gunwale of a ship. To lower the yards a-portoise, to lower them to the gunwale. -- To ride a portoise, to ride an anchor with the lower yards and topmasts struck or lowered, as in a gale of wind.

gement serving as a fulcrum for an oar in rowing. It consists sometimes of a notch in the gunwale of a boat, sometimes of a pair of pins between which the oar rests on the edge of the gunwale, sometimes of a single pin passing through the oar, or of a metal fork or stirrup pivoted in the gunwale and suporting the oar.…

The longitudinal upward curvature of the deck, gunwale, and lines of a vessel, as when viewed from the side.

." Shak. -- Span iron (Naut.), a special kind of harpoon, usually secured just below the gunwale of a whaleboat. -- Span roof, a common roof, having two slopes and one ridge, with eaves on both sides. Gwilt. -- Span shackle (Naut.), a large bolt driven through the forecastle deck, with a triangular shackle in the he…

A wooden or metal pin, set in the gunwale of a boat, to serve as a fulcrum for the oar in rowing. Longfellow.

The top end of a timber, rising above the gunwale, and serving for belaying ropes, etc.; -- called also kevel head.

ure running from stem to stern on the upper deck of a steam cargo vessel having a rounded gunwale and sides curved inward convexly.

A broad, thin plank, fixed along the gunwale of boat to keep the sea from breaking inboard; also, a plank on the sill of a lower deck port, for the same purpose; -- called also wasteboard. Mar. Di