The Sailor's Word-Book
Chapter 66 : CRACK. "In a crack," immediately.CRACKER. So named from the noise it makes in

CRACK. "In a crack," immediately.

CRACKER. So named from the noise it makes in exploding; it is applied to a small pistol. Also, to a little hard cabin biscuit, so called from its noise in breaking.

CRACKNEL. A small bark. Also, biscuits (see 1 Ki. xiv. 3).

CRACK OFFICER. One of the best cla.s.s.

CRACK ON, TO. To carry all sail.

CRACK-ORDER. High regularity.

CRACK-s.h.i.+P. One uncommonly smart in her evolutions and discipline, perhaps from the old English word for a fine boy. Crack is generally used for first-rate or excellent.

CRADLE. A frame consisting of bilge-ways, poppets, &c., on the principle of the wedge, placed under the bottom of a s.h.i.+p, and resting on the ways on which it slips, thus launching her steadily into the water, at which time it supports her weight while she slides down the greased ways. The cradle being the support of the s.h.i.+p, she carries it with her into the water, when, becoming buoyant, the frame separates from the hull, floats on the surface, and is again collected for similar purposes.

CRADLES. Standing bedsteads made up for wounded seamen, that they may be more comfortable than is possible in a hammock. Boats' chocks are sometimes called cradles.

CRAFT [from the Anglo-Saxon word _craeft_, a trading vessel]. It is now a general name for lighters, hoys, barges, &c., employed to load or land any goods or stores.--_Small craft._ The small vessels of war attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, gunboats, &c., generally commanded by lieutenants. Craft is also a term in sea-phraseology for every kind of vessel, especially for a favourite s.h.i.+p. Also, all manner of nets, lines, hooks, &c., used in fis.h.i.+ng.

CRAG. A precipitous cliff whose strata if vertical, or nearly so, subdivide into points.

CRAGER. A small river lighter, mentioned in our early statutes.

CRAGSMAN. One who climbs cliffs overhanging the sea to procure sea-fowls, or their eggs.

CRAIG-FLOOK. The smear-dab, or rock-flounder.

CRAIK, OR CRAKE. A s.h.i.+p; a diminutive corrupted from _carrack_.

CRAIL. _See_ KREEL.

CRAIL-CAPON. A haddock dried without being split.

CRAKERS. Choice soldiers (_temp._ Henry VIII.) Perhaps managers of the crakys, and therefore early artillery.

CRAKYS. An old term for great guns.

CRAMP. A machine to facilitate the s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g of two pieces of timber together.

CRAMPER. A yarn or twine worn round the leg as a remedy against cramp.

CRAMPETS. The cramp rings of a sword scabbard. Ferrule to a staff.

CRAMPINGS. A nautical phrase to express the fetters and bolts for offenders.

CRAMPOON. _See_ CREEPER.

CRANAGE. The money paid for the use of a wharf crane. Also, the permission to use a crane at any wharf or pier.

CRANCE. A sort of iron cap on the outer end of the bowsprit, through which the jib-boom traverses. The name is not unfrequently applied to any boom-iron.

CRANE. A machine for raising and lowering great weights, by which timber and stores are hoisted upon wharfs, &c. Also, a kind of catapult for casting stones in ancient warfare. Also, pieces of iron, or timber at a vessel's sides, used to stow boats or spars upon. Also, as many fresh or green unsalted herrings as would fill a barrel.

CRANE-BARGE. A low flat-floored lump, fitted for the purpose of carrying a crane, in aid of marine works.

CRANE-LINES. Those which formerly went from the spritsail-topmast to the middle of the fore-stay, serving to steady the former. Also, small lines for keeping the lee backstays from chafing against the yards.

CRANG. The carca.s.s of a whale after being flinched or the blubber stripped off.

CRANK, OR CRANK-SIDED. A vessel, by her construction or her stowage, inclined to lean over a great deal, or from insufficient ballast or cargo incapable of carrying sail, without danger of overturning. The opposite term is _stiff_, or the quality of standing well up to her canvas.--_Cranky_ expresses a foolish capriciousness. s.h.i.+ps built too deep in proportion to their breadth are notoriously crank.--_Crank by the ground_, is a s.h.i.+p whose floor is so narrow that she cannot be brought on the ground without danger.

CRANK-HATCHES. Are raised coamings on a steamer's deck, to form coverings for the cranks of the engines below.

CRANK-PIN. In steam machinery, it goes through both arms of the crank at their extremities; to this pin the connecting-rod is attached.

CRANKS OF A MARINE ENGINE; eccentric, as in a turning-lathe. The bend or knee pinned on the shafts, by which they are moved round with a circular motion. Also, iron handles for working pumps, windla.s.ses, &c. Also, erect iron forks on the quarter-deck for the capstan-bars, or other things, to be stowed thereon. Also, the axis and handle of a grindstone.

Also, an old term for the sudden or frequent involutions of the planets in their orbits.

CRANK-SHAFT. In a steamer. (_See_ INTERMEDIATE SHAFT.)

c.r.a.pPO, OR GENERAL c.r.a.pAUD. Jack's name for a Frenchman, one whom he thinks would be a better sailor if he would but talk English instead of French.

CRARE, OR CRAYER. A slow unwieldy trading vessel of olden times. Thus Shakspeare, in _Cymbeline_, with hydrographic parlance:--

"Who ever yet could sound thy bottom? Find The ooze, to show what coast thy sluggish crare Might easiliest harbour in?"

CRATER OF A MINE. Synonymous with _funnel_ (which see).

CRAVAISE. An Anglo-Norman word for cray-fish.

CRAVEN. An old term synonymous with _recreant_ (which see).

CRAWL. A sort of pen, formed by a barrier of stakes and hurdles on the sea-coast, to contain fish or turtle. On the coast of Africa, a pen for slaves awaiting s.h.i.+pment.

CRAWLING OFF. Working off a lee-sh.o.r.e by slow degrees.

CRAY-FISH. A lobster-like crustacean (_Astacus fluviatilis_) found in fresh-water.

CRAZY. Said of a s.h.i.+p in a bad state.

CREAK. The straining noise made by timbers, cabin bulk-heads, and spars in rolling.

CREAR. A kind of Scotch lighter. (_See_ CRARE.)

CREEK. A narrow inlet of the sea shoaling suddenly. Also, the channels connecting the several branches of a river and lake islands, and one lake or lagoon with another. It differs from a cove, in being proportionately deeper and narrower. In law, it is part of a haven where anything is landed from the sea.

CREEL, OR CRUE, for fis.h.i.+ng. _See_ KREEL.

CREENGAL. _See_ CRINGLE.