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A long, narrow boat, sharp at both ends, used by whalemen.

A round piece of timber at the bow or stern of a whaleboat, around which the harpoon lone is run out when the whale darts off.

they are sighted at an object. -- Line tub (Naut.), a tub in which the line carried by a whaleboat is coiled. -- Mason and Dixon's line, the boundary line between Pennsylvania and Maryland, as run before the Revolution (1764-1767) by two English astronomers named Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon. In an extended sense…

An upright piece of round timber, in a whaleboat, over which a turn of the line is taken when it is running out too fast. Ham. Nav. Encyc.

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 head to receive…

. I'm thinking Captain Lawton will count the noses of what are left before they see their whaleboats. Cooper. What followed was in perfect harmony with this beginning. Macaulay. I know well . . . how little you will be disposed to criticise what comes to you from me. J. H. Newman.