Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The angle formed by the bowsprit and the horizon or the keel.
- intransitive verb To incline (a bowsprit) upward at an angle with the horizon or the keel.
- intransitive verb To have an upward inclination. Used of a bowsprit.
- noun A spar or derrick with a block at one end, used for stowing cargo.
- transitive verb To stow or pack (cargo) in the hold of a ship.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Stiff; firm; unbending or unyielding.
- To stiffen: as, to be steeved with cold.
- Nautical, to project from the bows at an angle instead of horizontally: said of a bowsprit.
- Nautical, to give a certain angle of elevation to: as, to
steeve a bowsprit. - noun A long derrick or spar, with a block at one end, used in stowing cargo.
- noun Nautical, the angle of elevation which the bowsprit makes with the horizon.
- To stuff; cram; pack firmly and tightly.
- Nautical, to stow, as cargo in a vessel's hold, by means of a steeve or a jack-screw.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- intransitive verb (Shipbuilding) To project upward, or make an angle with the horizon or with the line of a vessel's keel; -- said of the bowsprit, etc.
- transitive verb (Shipbuilding) To elevate or fix at an angle with the horizon; -- said of the bowsprit, etc.
- transitive verb To stow, as bales in a vessel's hold, by means of a steeve. See
Steeve , n. (b). - noun The angle which a bowsprit makes with the horizon, or with the line of the vessel's keel; -- called also
steeving . - noun A spar, with a block at one end, used in stowing cotton bales, and similar kinds of cargo which need to be packed tightly.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb archaic To
project upward , or make an angle with the horizon or with the line of a vessel's keel; -- said of the bowsprit, etc. - noun nautical The
angle which abowsprit makes with thehorizon , or with the line of the vessel'skeel ; thesteeving . - noun A
spar , with ablock at one end, used instowing cotton bales and similarcargo needing to be packed tightly.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word steeve.
Examples
-
MacCailein Mor looked a bit annoyed, and led us at a fast pace up to the gate of the castle that stood, high towered and embrasured for heavy pieces, stark and steeve above town Inneraora.
John Splendid The Tale of a Poor Gentleman, and the Little Wars of Lorn Neil Munro
-
This they did all day long for several days, until their hides were all discharged, when a gang of them were sent on board the Alert, to help us steeve our hides.
-
Each morning we went ashore, and beat and brought off as many hides as we could steeve in the course of the day, and, after breakfast, went down into the hold, where we remained at work until night.
-
Even the very steeve of the bowsprit seemed familiar to me, and I felt certain that the superbly cut jib and handsome trysail could belong only to the _Barracouta_!
The Pirate Slaver A Story of the West African Coast Harry Collingwood 1886
-
I could not be absolutely certain of her identity until her hull should heave up clear of the horizon, but that jaunty steeve of bowsprit and the hoist and spread of those topsails were all very strongly suggestive of the
A Middy in Command A Tale of the Slave Squadron Harry Collingwood 1886
-
I knows the steeve o 'that bowsprit too well to be mistook as to what that brig is.
A Middy in Command A Tale of the Slave Squadron Harry Collingwood 1886
-
Yes, that long low hull, with its abnormal length of counter, and its bold sheer forward, the high, dominating bow with its excessive rake of stem, and the peculiar steeve of the bowsprit were all familiar to me.
A Middy of the Slave Squadron A West African Story Harry Collingwood 1886
-
Each morning we went ashore, and beat and brought off as many hides as we could steeve in the course of the day, and, after breakfast, went down into the hold, where we remained at work until night.
Two years before the mast, and twenty-four years after: a personal narrative 1869
-
This they did all day long for several days, until their hides were all discharged, when a gang of them were sent on board the Alert, to help us steeve our hides.
Two years before the mast, and twenty-four years after: a personal narrative 1869
-
Each morning we went ashore, and beat and brought off as many hides as we could steeve in a day, and, after breakfast, went down into the hold, where we remained at work until night, except a short spell for dinner.
Two Years Before the Mast Richard Henry Dana 1848
chained_bear commented on the word steeve
"'Yes,' said Jack, 'and you will see the extraordinary merits of a running bowsprit. When she pitches like this'—the table took on a forward slope of twenty-five degrees, their hands automatically securing the toast—'the bowsprit does not stab into the sea and snap off short or at the very least check her way.'
"'How can this be achieved, for all love?'
"'Since a cutter's bowsprit has no steeve, since it is horizontal, it can be run on deck,' they told him kindly."
--Patrick O'Brian, The Thirteen Gun Salute, 90
March 3, 2008
chained_bear commented on the word steeve
"'She was always over-masted; and even now I cannot congratulate her on her botched-together bowsprit. Marsham has always over-steeved his bowsprits.'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Hundred Days, 2
Marsham. Huh. That loser.
March 20, 2008
yarb commented on the word steeve
Having filled the ship up, in this way, to within four feet of her beams, the process of steeving began, by which a hundred hides are got into a place where scarce one could be forced by hand, and which presses the hides to the utmost, sometimes starting the beams of the ship,-- resembling in its effects the jack-screws which are used in stowing cotton. Each morning we went ashore, and beat and brought off as many hides as we could steeve in a day, and, after breakfast, went down into the hold, where we remained at work until night, except a short spell for dinner.
- Richard Henry Dana Jr., Two Years Before the Mast, ch. 29
September 9, 2008