Dictionary Search Results
For a selection of basic naval terms, see the log and report glossary.
Results: block
- block, cheek
- nautical: A half shell block with a single sheave bolted to a mast or other object which serves as the other half shell or cheek. Usually used in connection with halyards.
- block, fiddle
- nautical: A block having two sheaves of different diameters placed in the same plane one above the other.
- block, snatch
- nautical: A single sheave block having one side of the frame hinged so that it can be opened to allow the bight of a rope to be placed on the sheave, thus avoiding the necessity of threading the end of the rope through the swallow of the block. Usually employed as a fair lead around obstructions.
- Block
- abbreviation: Airborne television system
- block
- nautical: The name given to a pulley or sheave, or a system of pulleys or sheaves, mounted in a frame or shell and used for moving objects by means of ropes run over the pulleys or sheaves. The prefixes, single, double, triple, etc., indicate the number of pulleys or sheaves in the block. The five principal parts of a block are (a) the shell, or outside frame, (b) the sheave, on which the rope runs, (c) the pin, on which the sheave turns, (d) the strap, by which the hook is held in position and which provides bearing for the pin, and (e) the hook, which may be open, sister, or shackle and fixed or swivel. The opening between the top of the sheave and the shell is called the swallow, that between the bottom of the sheave and the shell is called the breech, and the device attached to the bottom of the block opposite the hook for securing the standing part of the fall to the block is called the becket.
- keel, blocks
- nautical: Heavy timber blocks piled one above the other on which the keel of a vessel is supported when being built, or when she is in a dry dock. They are placed under the keel from bow to stern and a sufficient distance apart to allow working between them.
- Two blocks
- orders: When the two blocks of a tackle have been drawn as close together as possible. All the way up. This is said of boats, flags, or any objects which are hoisted with block and tackle.