The Sailor's Word-Book Part 167

MOOR ACROSS, TO. To lay out one of the anchors across stream.

MOOR ALONG, TO. To anchor in a river with a hawser on sh.o.r.e to steady her.

MOOR-GALLOP. A west-country term for a sudden squall coming across the moors.

MOORING-BRIDLE. The fasts attached to moorings, one taken into each hawse-hole, or bridle-port.

MOORING-CHOCKS. Large pieces of hard wood with a hole in the centre, shod with iron collars, and fastened between two stanchions in large ships, for the moorings to pa.s.s through.

MOORING POSTS OR PALLS. Strong upright posts fixed into the ground, for securing vessels to the landing-place by hawsers or chains. Also, strong pieces of oak inserted into the deck of a large ship for fastening the moorings to when alongside a quay.

MOORING-RINGS. Iron swivel rings fixed on piers or buoys, &c., for securing vessels to.

MOORINGS. Indicated by buoys to which ships are fastened; they are attached by bridles to heavy anchors and cables laid down in the most convenient parts of rivers and harbours. They are termed "_swinging_,"

or "_all fours_," depending on whether the ship is secured by the bow only, or by bow and stern. By their means many more ships are secured in a certain s.p.a.ce than would be possible if they used their own anchors.

MOOR QUARTER-SHOT, TO. To moor quartering, between the two ways of across and along.

MOOR THE BOAT, TO. To fasten her with two ropes, so that the one shall counteract the other, and keep her in a steady position.

MOOR WITH A SPRING ON THE CABLE, TO. _See_ SPRING.

MOOTER. A spike, bolt, tree-nail.

MOOTING. In ship-building, making a tree-nail exactly cylindrical to a given size or diameter, called the _moot_.

MOP. A young whiting.

MOPPAT. An early name for the sponge of a cannon.

MOp.u.s.s.eS. A cant term for money in general.

MORa.s.s. Nearly the same thing as a marsh or swamp. In tropical regions they are often overflowed with salt water, yet covered with mangrove and many aquatic plants.

MORGLAY. A great sword, alluded to formerly.

MORION. An ancient steel casque or helmet, without beaver or visor.

According to Chaucer it was of more uses than one:--

"Their beef they often in their morion stewed."

MORNING GUN. The gun fired from the admiral's or senior officer's ship, to announce day-break, which is answered by the muskets of the sentries in the other ships.

MORNING STAR. An offensive weapon of the mediaeval times, consisting of a staff, to which was attached an iron ball covered with spikes. Also, the planet which is near the meridian at day-dawn.

MORNING WATCH. Those of the crew on watch from 4 to 8 A.M.

MORRA. An ancient game still played in Italy with extraordinary zest, by two persons raising the right hand, and suddenly and contemporaneously throwing it down with only some of the fingers extended, when the aim is to guess what they unitedly amount to. Also, a term for a headland or promontory on the coasts of Chili and Peru. Also, a round tower or fort, as at Havana [from the Spanish _morro_, round].

MORRIS-PIKE. A formidable Moorish weapon, the precursor of the boarding-pike.

MORSE. _See_ WALRUS.

MORSING POWDER. An old term for priming powder.

MORTAR. A short piece of ordnance used for throwing sh.e.l.ls, so that they may fall nearly vertical; they thus acquire force for breaking through roofs, decks, &c. It is fired at a fixed angle of elevation, generally at 45, the charge of powder varying according to the range required.

MORTAR-BED AND BED-BEAMS. _See_ BOMB-BEDS, &c.

MORTAR-VESSEL. _See_ BOMB-VESSEL.

MORTGAGE. A registered ship, or share therein, which has been made a security for a money-loan, or other valuable consideration, is termed a mortgage in the Merchant Shipping Act.

MORTICE. A morticed block is one made out of a single block of wood, chiselled for one or more sheaves; in distinction from a _made block_.

The chisel used for morticing is peculiar to that purpose.

MORUACH. A peculiar seal, which has been frequently mistaken on our northern sh.o.r.es for a mermaid.

MOSES. A flat-bottomed boat used in the West Indies for bringing off hogsheads of sugar; it is termed single or double, according to its size.

MOSES' LAW. The term among pirates for inflicting thirty-nine lashes on the bare back--forty save one.

MOSQUITO. A term applied to a gnat-like species of stinging insects, found chiefly in low marshy places and the neighbourhood of rivers.

MOSQUITO FLEET. An a.s.semblage of small craft.

MOSQUITO NET. A light curtain spread over a cot or bed in warm climates, to protect the sleeper from mosquitoes.

MOSS-BONKER. The name given by American fishermen to the _hard-head_ (which see).

MOTHER CARY'S CHICKEN. The stormy petrel, _Procellaria pelagica_.

MOTHER CARY'S GOOSE. The name given by Captain Cook's people to an oceanic brown bird, _Procellaria gigantea_, which Pernety calls _Quebranta huesos_ (bone-breaker).

MOTHER-OF-PEARL. The iridescent nacreous inner layer of several species of sh.e.l.ls, especially the "pearl-oyster" (_Meleagrina margaritifera_).

MOTHERY [probably from the Dutch _mder_, mud]. Thick and mouldy; generally applied to decomposing liquors.

MOTION. Change of place; it is termed _direct_, in the sky, when it is in the direction of the earth's annual revolution; _retrograde_, when it proceeds contrary to these conditions; by _sidereal_ is meant the motion of a body with respect to the fixed stars.--_Tropical motion_ is the movement of a body in respect to the equinox or tropic, which has itself a slow motion among the stars, as shown under precession. (_See_ PROPER MOTION.)--_Motion_, in mechanics, is either simple or compound, as one or more powers are used. The momentum of a moving body, or quant.i.ty of motion, arises from its velocity multiplied into the quant.i.ty of matter it contains.

MOTION, CENTRE OF. That point of a body which remains at rest whilst all the other parts are in motion about it: as the mathematical centre of a revolving sphere.

MOTOR. The prime mover in machinery.

MOULDED. The size of the timber, the way the mould is laid; cut to the mould.

MOULDED BREADTH. The measure of beam from outside to outside of the timbers, without the thickness of the plank.