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Examples

  • "He could write a draft for a million," I was told, and "I'd hate to be the man that bilked him of a fiver, though," says another, from which I gathered that my beloved old commander's belaying-pin reputation still stuck to hi m, how-ever loud he hollered in church.

    THE NUMBERS 2010

  • He came out at us from the darkness with a rush and a roar like a bull and brandishing a belaying-pin.

    The Ghost Pirates 2007

  • And long ere the lights of Scarborough died into the haze of night, as the cutter began to cleave watery way, the sailor passed a stout new rope from a belaying-pin through this hole, and then he betrayed his watch on deck by hauling the end up with a clew, and gently returning it to the deep with a long grappling-iron made fast to it.

    Mary Anerley Richard Doddridge 2004

  • "He could write a draft for a million," I was told, and "I'd hate to be the man that bilked him of a fiver, though," says another, from which I gathered that my beloved old commander's belaying-pin reputation still stuck to hi m, how-ever loud he hollered in church.

    Flashman and the angel of the lord Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1995

  • "He could write a draft for a million," I was told, and "I'd hate to be the man that bilked him of a fiver, though," says another, from which I gathered that my beloved old commander's belaying-pin reputation still stuck to hi m, how-ever loud he hollered in church.

    Flashman and the angel of the lord Fraser, George MacDonald, 1925- 1995

  • The men on watch hesitated a moment and then came crowding aft and began to cast off the weather-brace from its belaying-pin.

    Mr. Trunnell, Mate of the Ship "Pirate"

  • After he had received a severe cut and had cracked the skull of the sailor who had given it by knocking him over the head with an iron belaying-pin, he began to retreat along the deck.

    Mr. Trunnell, Mate of the Ship "Pirate"

  • They couldn't understand much of what I said, but they could tell something of my meaning when I held up a rope's-end and belaying-pin before their eyes and made certain significant gestures in regard to their manipulation.

    Mr. Trunnell, Mate of the Ship "Pirate"

  • He jerked out a belaying-pin, struck at the bird, missed it, when the hawk again rose high in the air, and a second time began to descend, contract his circle, and make at him again.

    Memoirs of the Union's Three Great Civil War Generals David Widger

  • All belaying-pin and no pay has made JACK a dull boy.

    Punchinello, Volume 1, No. 01, April 2, 1870 Various

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  • A pin or rod, typically of metal or wood, used on board ship and in mountaineering to secure a rope fastened around it. 

    Belaying pins were commonly used as improvised weapons on military and civilian ships, as their shape and weight made them a short but formidable club. See also belaying pin.

    July 31, 2015