in nautical phrase, is a block of wood with three holes through it, for the lanyards of rigging to reeve through, without sheaves, and with a groove round it for an iron strap. (Dana: Seaman’s Manual, p. 92.)
⁂ The holes are eyes, but they are dead eyes.
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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.
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