gunwale
n.
upper part of a boat (Nautical)
Gunwale
The gunwale, (
IPA /gʌnəl/ ) pronounced "gunnel" to rhyme with "tunnel", is a
nautical term describing the top edge of the side of a
boat. Wale is the same word as the skin injury, a
weal, which, too, forms a ridge. Originally the gunwale was the "
Gun ridge" on a
sailing warship. This represented the strengthening wale or structural band added to the design of the ship, at and above the level of a
gun deck. It was designed to accommodate the stresses imposed by the use of
artillery.
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gunwale
Noun
1. wale at the top of the side of boat; topmost planking of a wooden vessel
(synonym) gunnel, gun rest
(hypernym) wale, strake
Gunwale
(n.)
The upper edge of a vessel's or boat's side; the uppermost wale of a ship (not including the bulwarks); or that piece of timber which reaches on either side from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, being the uppermost bend, which finishes the upper works of the hull.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), edited by Noah Porter.
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