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Warp (To)

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A sea term, meaning to shift the position of a vessel. This is done by means of a rope called a warp. Kedging is when the warp is bent to a kedge, which is let go, and the vessel is hove ahead by the capstan.

“The potent rod


Of Amram’s son [Moses], in Egypt’s evil day,

Waved round the coast, up-called a pitchy cloud

Of locusts, warping [shifting about] in the eastern wind.”


⁂ In Lancashire, warping means laying eggs; and boys, on finding a bird’s nest, will ask—“And how many eggs has she warped?”

 

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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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Ward (Artemus)
Ward Money, Ward-penny, or Wardage
Warden-pie
Ware
Warlock
Warm Reception (A)
Warm as a Bat
Warming-pan (A)
Warming-pan
Warning Stone
Warp (To)
Warp and Weft, or Woof
Warrior Queen (The)
Warwick
Warwick Lane (City)
Warwolf
Washed Out (I am thoroughly)
Washing
Washington of Columbia
Wassail
Wassailers