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marlinspike

noun

Etymology

From marline + spike.

  1. derived from *spey-✻ — “to be pointed; sharp point, stick”
  2. derived from *spīkō✻ — “stick, splinter, point”
  3. derived from spík — “spike, sprig”
  4. inherited from spike
  5. compounded as marlinspike — “marline + spike”

Definitions

  1. A tool, consisting of a pointed metal spike, used to manipulate the strands of rope or…

    A tool, consisting of a pointed metal spike, used to manipulate the strands of rope or cable when knotting and splicing.

    • […] the afterguard, of whom they have but a sorry opinion, chiefly landsmen, never going aloft except to reef or furl the mainsail and in no wise competent to handle a marlinspike or turn in a dead-eye, say.
    • There was / that interval of moonless calm filled only / with the water's and the rigging's usual sounds, / then sudden movement, blows and snarling cries / and they had fallen on us with machete / and marlinspike.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for marlinspike. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA