Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Nautical A small two-masted sailing vessel, used especially on canals in the Low Countries.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A small merchant vessel with two masts, and the mainsail bent to the whole length of a yard, hanging fore and aft, and inclined to the horizon at an angle of about 45 degrees, the foremost lower corner, called the tack, being secured to a ring-bolt in the deck, and the after most, or sheet, to the taffrail. Few vessels are now rigged in this manner. The bilander is a kind of hoy, manageable by four or five men, and used chiefly in the canals of the Low Countries.
Wiktionary
- n. nautical A small two-masted merchant vessel, fitted only for coasting, or for use in canals, as in Holland.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Naut.) A small two-masted merchant vessel, fitted only for coasting, or for use in canals, as in Holland.
Etymologies
- Dutch bijlander; bij by + land land, country. (Wiktionary)
- Dutch billander, probably from binlander, inlander, from binnenlander : binnen, within (from Middle Dutch; see en in Indo-European roots) + land, land; see lendh- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The bilander was a good sizable object, and not to hit her anywhere would be too bad.”
“[Footnote 3: A bilander was a small two-master, with the mainsail of lateen form.] [Footnote 4: The _Lisbon Merchant_, Captain Porteen.”
Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Illustrative Documents
“The poor old bilander had made herself such a hole in the shingle that she rolled no more, but only lifted at the stern and groaned, as the quiet waves swept under her.”
“For this gallant lieutenant, slanting toward the bows of the flying bilander, which he had no hope of fore-reaching, trained his long swivel-gun upon her, and let go — or rather tried to let go — at her.”
““I am sorry to be troublesome, Mynheer Van Dunck, but I can not say good-by without having your receipt in full for the old bilander.””
“There were three craft, all of different rig — a schooner, a ketch, and the said bilander.”
““Well, mynheer, you have only to pay the difference, and the ketch will do; the bilander sails almost as fast.””
“John Gristhorp, of the “Ship Inn,” at Filey, had turned out his visitors, barred his door, and was counting his money by the fireside, with his wife grumbling at him for such late hours as half past ten of the clock in the bar, that night when the poor bilander ended her long career as aforesaid.”
“For a while the bilander seemed to mean to try it, for she carried on toward the central cruiser as if she had not seen one of them.”
“They called her “the lugger,” though her rig was widely different from that, and her due title was “bilander.””
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘bilander’.
-
Out to Sea
If I had a boat
I'd go out on the ocean
And if I had a pony
I'd ride him on my boat
And we could all together
Go out on the ocean
Me upon my pony on my boat.boat, ship, skiff, barge, canoe, catamaran, yacht, scow, lifeboat, launch, ketch, dory and 303 more...
-
The Aubrey/Maturin List I'm Gonna Mak...
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...studdingsail, carronade, mumchance, grumlin-futtocks, crosscat-harpings, holystone, sennit, orlop, orchitis, negus, kevel, altumal and 1112 more...
-
Professional Scrabble Lexicon (TWL)
A myriad of game-changing words every Scrabble addict must have in his arsenal.
Keep in mind that these are all tried-and-true feasibly playable words selected for their handiness, i.e...paragon, pignora, ganef, suttee, origan, ohia, aioli, abasement, lehr, mho, tallow, harelike and 848 more...
-
and Bristol fashion
being items related to boats, ships, sailing, nautical and naval lore &c.
sloop, frigate, brigantine, brig, grog, schooner, rig, sail, canvas, jib, forestay, cutter and 150 more...
-
Transportation
monoplane, cabriolet, phaeton, argosy, coracle, sampan, Ventiports, wedgehead, sweepspear, fuselage, trafficator, barouche and 70 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for bilander.
chained_bear "'So that is a schooner,' said Martin... 'How can you tell?'
"'It has two masts...'
"'But brigs, ketches, bilanders, galliots, and doggers also have two masts. What is the difference?'
"'Curlews and whimbrels have a general similarity, and both have two wings; yet to any but the most superficial observer there is an evident difference.'
"'There is the difference of size, eye-stripe, and voice.'
"'...The accustomed eye... at once distinguishes the equivalent of eye-stripes, wing-bars, and semi-palmated feet.'
"'Perhaps I shall come to it in time... But there are also luggers, bean-cods and herring-busses.'"
—Patrick O'Brian, The Letter of Marque, 70 Feb 27, 2008
reesetee A small European merchant ship with two masts, used in the Netherlands for coast and canal traffic. Sometimes seen in the North Sea but more frequently in the Mediterranean Sea. Nov 2, 2007