Bibb
It's not every day that I encounter a word I don't know. When I do, I look it up. This habit has served me well.
Today I encountered a new word, bibb. I looked it up.
bibb, n. Naut. a sidepiece of timber bolted to the hounds of a mast to support the trestletrees.
Well, gosh. I grew up on Navy bases and thought I knew some nautical lingo. Continuing in the dictionary:
hound, n. pl. Shipbuilding The framing at the masthead of a vessel to support the heel of the topmast and the upper parts of the lower rigging.
trestletree, n. Naut. A strong timber fixed on the masthead to support the crosstrees, the frame of the top, and the topmast through the fid; -- chiefly in pl.
Dang. Gotta dig deeper.
masthead, n. The top of a mast, esp. of the lower mast.
heel, n. Naut. The lower end of a mast, a boom, the sternpost, etc.
crosstrees, n. pl. Naut. Two horizontal pieces of timber or metal supported by the trestletrees at a masthead, to spread the upper shrouds to support the mast.
fid, n. Naut. A square bar of wood or iron, used to support the topmast.
Phooey, I give up. Anyone know what a bibb is?
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-- Carl
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