DUMB-SCRAPING. Scraping wet decks with blunt scrapers.
DUMFOUNDER. To confuse or perplex.
DUMMY. A wood frame landing-place in front of a pier.
DUMP-BOLT. A short bolt driven in to the plank and timber as a partial
security previous to the thorough fastenings being put in.
DUMPS. Nearly synonymous with _down in the mouth_.
DUN. A hill, an eminence.
DUNBAR MEDLAR. A salted herring.
DUNDERHEAD. A term used for the devil, as also for a stupid fellow.
DUN-DIVER. A name for the goosander (_Mergus merganser_) in immature
plumage.
DUNES. An Anglo-Saxon word still in use, signifying mounds or ridges of
drifted sands. (_See_ DOWNS.)
DUN-FISH. A peculiar preparation of cod for the American market, by
which it retains a dun or dark yellow colour. Dunning is extensively
carried on in the spring at Portsmouth and other places in New
Hampshire.
DUNGAREE-DUCK. A name given to a small dried fish in Bombay.
DUNGAREE-STUFF. A blue or striped cotton cloth much worn by the
seafaring classes in India.
DUNGIYAH. A broad-beamed flat-bottomed Arabian coaster trading between
the Red Sea, Gulf of Persia, and the Malabar coast.
DUN-HEAD. In east-country barges the after-planking which forms the
cabin.
DUNKIRKS. The well-known name for pirates who sailed out of Dunkirk.
DUNLIN. The name of a species of sand-piper (_Tringa cinclus_).
DUNN, OR DUIN. A Gaelic word for a fort, a hill, a heap, or a knoll.
DUNNAGE. Loose wood or other substances, as horns, rattan, coir, &c., to
stow amongst casks and other cargo to prevent their motion. A vessel
dunnages below the dry cargo to keep it from bilge-water.
DUNNAGE BATTENS. An extra floor in a merchantman to preserve the cargo
from wet in the event of leakage. They are also used in magazines and
sail-rooms so as to form a vacant space beneath the powder-barrels and
ceiling.
DUNNAGED. Goods or packages secured with dunnage.
DUNNAGE GRATINGS. Express gratings placed on a steamer's deck to place
cargo upon, serving as dunnage.
DUNTER. A northern designation of the porpoise.
DUNTER-GOOSE. A name in the Orkneys for the _Somateria mollissima_, or
eider-duck.
DUR-MAST. An inferior oak of more rapid growth than the true English.
DUST. The refuse of biscuit in the bread-room. Also used for money. This
term probably got into use in India, where the boat hire on the Ganges
was added to by the Ghat-Manjees, in the way of "Dustooree." Moreover, a
tumult or uproar.
DUTCH. Language, or rather gibberish, which cannot be understood by a
listener. (_See_ DOUBLE DUTCH.)
DUTCH-CAPER. A light-armed vessel of the seventeenth century, adapted
for privateering, and much used by the Dutch.
DUTCH CONSOLATION. "Whatever ill befalls you, there's somebody that's
worse;" or "It's very unfortunate; but thank God it's no worse."
DUTCH COURAGE. The excitement inspired by drinking spirits; false
energy.
DUTCH EEL-SKUYT. A flat-bottomed somewhat cutter-rigged sea-boat,
carrying lee-boards, fitted with two water-tight bulk-heads, making a
well for keeping live fish in, the water being admitted through
perforated plates fastened on inside the ribs.
DUTCHIFYING. A term used for converting square sterns to round ones.
DUTCHMAN'S BREECHES. The patch of blue sky often seen when a gale is
breaking, is said to be, however small, "enough to make a pair of
breeches for a Dutchman." Others assign the habiliment to a Welshman,
but give no authority for the assumption.
DUTCH PLAICE. The _Pleuronectes platessa_. When small, it is called
fleak; when large, Dutch plaice.
DUTCH PUMP. A punishment so contrived that, if the prisoner would not
pump hard, he was drowned.
DUTCH RECKONING. A bad day's work, all in the wrong.
DUTCH REDS. High-smoked herrings prepared in Holland.
DUTIES. Taxes levied by the custom-house upon goods exported or
imported.
DUTTEES. Coarse brown calicoes of India.
DUTY. The exercise of those functions which belong to the service, and
are carried out from the highest to the lowest.
DWANG-STAFF. This is otherwise the _wrain-staff_ (which see).
DYCE. A langridge for the old hail-shot pieces.