dead nip

bilby Jargonissimo. Jun 19, 2009

chained_bear "'I will show you how we weigh with a voyol,' he said. 'Take notice. You don't often see it done, but it may save you a tide of the first consequence.' They followed him below to the mangerboard, where he observed, 'This is a voyol with a difference: carry on Sophie-fashion, Bonden,'—for Bonden had already brought the big single-sheaved block. 'Watch, now. He makes it fast to the cable—he reeves the jeer-fall through it—the jeer-fall is brought to its capstan, with the standing part belayed to the bitts. So you get a direct runner-purchase instead of a dead nip, do you understand?'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Far Side of the World, 237 Feb 23, 2008