GUNWALE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does gunwale mean? 

• GUNWALE (noun)
  The noun GUNWALE has 1 sense:

1. wale at the top of the side of boat; topmost planking of a wooden vessel

  Familiarity information: GUNWALE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• GUNWALE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wale at the top of the side of boat; topmost planking of a wooden vessel

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

gun rest; gunnel; gunwale

Hypernyms ("gunwale" is a kind of...):

strake; wale (thick plank forming a ridge along the side of a wooden ship)

 Context examples 

Mr. Peggotty, standing with one hand on the gunwale of the boat, and his eyes cast down, put his disengaged hand before his face.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

It went over suddenly, burying its gunwale level with the sea and shipping a bucketful or so of water.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

First, moving with all care, I gradually baled out the coracle with my sea-cap; then, getting my eye once more above the gunwale, I set myself to study how it was she managed to slip so quietly through the rollers.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Once or twice its service was most effective, as when a fishing-boat, with gunwale under water, rushed into the harbour, able, by the guidance of the sheltering light, to avoid the danger of dashing against the piers.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

The hunter and boat-puller were both lying awkwardly in the bottom, but the boat-steerer lay across the gunwale, half in and half out, his arms trailing in the water and his head rolling from side to side.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

The gunwale was lipping astern.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Often, as I still lay at the bottom and kept no more than an eye above the gunwale, I would see a big blue summit heaving close above me; yet the coracle would but bounce a little, dance as if on springs, and subside on the other side into the trough as lightly as a bird.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)