Good Books

Hook-billed marlin, a curlew.

Mar"line (?), n. [LG. marlien,
marling, or D. marling, marlijn, fr. D.
marren to tie, prob. akin to E. moor, v., and
lijn line: cf.F. merlin. See Moor,
v., Line.] (Naut.) A small line
composed of two strands a little twisted, used for winding around
ropes and cables, to prevent their being weakened by
fretting.

Marline spike, Marling spike
(Naut.), an iron tool tapering to a point, used to
separate the strands of a rope in splicing and in marling. It has an
eye in the thick end to which a lanyard is attached. See
Fid. [Written also marlin spike] --
Marline-spike bird. [The name alludes to the long
middle tail feathers.] (Zoöl.) (a) A
tropic bird. (b) A jager, or skua
gull.

Mar"line (?), v. t. [F.
merliner.] (Naut.) To wind marline around; as, to
marline a rope.

Marl"ite (?), n.


Pages:
323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347