The Pirate Ship
Pirate Dictionary (K-Z)
K to Z
K
Keel
– The main framework of a ship, it runs along the bottom of the ship - from the front to the back.
Keelhaul
– To pull somebody under a ship (under the keel). Done by using ropes and often as a form of punishment.
Knots
– The speed a ship travels. A knot is the same as a nautical mile.
L
Lad
– Young man.
Land ahoy!
– ‘I see land.’
Landlubber or lubber
– A person who likes being on land, often used as an insult.
Landyard
– A short rope that things can be hung from.
Lass
– Young woman.
Leg Irons
– Wide rings of metal that were attached to each other (usually by chain) and fastened around prisoner’s ankles.
Line
– Any rope used on a ship, perhaps in the rigging or to tow something.
Log
– A daily record written to record where a ship travels and what has happened on it.
Lookout
– The person in charge of watching out for signs of land or other ships.
Loot
– Gold and riches usually stolen.
Lubber or landlubber
– A person who likes being on land, often used as an insult.
M
Mainmast -The mast in the centre of a ship.
Man-of-War
– A ship built specifically for fighting.
Marooned
– Left alone, usually on a deserted island.
Marque – Official permission to catch enemy merchant ships.
Mast
– The upright pole on a ship that the sails and ropes are attached to.
Mate or Matey
– Friend
Me
– Used instead of ‘my’.
Me beauty
– How you would address a pretty lady or something important to you.
Me hearties
– Friends.
Merchant
– A person who sells things.
Merchant Ship
– A ship carrying cargo to be sold.
Mutiny
– When a ship’s crew refuse to follow the captain’s orders.
N
Navigate
– To steer and guide a ship from one place to another.
New World
- America
P
Pardon –To be officially forgiven for all the bad things you've done.
Peg leg
– An artificial leg, usually wooden.
Pieces of Eight
– An old Spanish silver coin.
Pillage
– To rob.
Pirate
– A ‘robber of the sea’.
Plunder
– To steal.
Poop deck
– The floor that is also the roof of a cabin built on the upper deck.
Poop cabin
– A room built on the top deck of a ship, often the Captain’s.
Port
– The left side when facing the ship’s pointy end, also a strong alcoholic drink, and the area of land next to where ships are left when the pirates go ashore.
Pox
– Disease.
Pressgang
– To force somebody to become a member of a ship’s crew.
Privateer
– English, French or Dutch sailors allowed by their Government to attack enemy ships.
Prow
– The pointy end of a ship.
Q
Quartermaster
– The sailor second-in-charge to the Captain.
R
Rigging
– The ropes, mast and sails on a ship.
Rope’s end
– To whip/flog.
Rum
– Said to be a pirate’s favourite alcoholic drink, also used to describe things that were a little weird or odd.
S
Sail ho!
– ‘I see a sail.’ This also means, ‘I see a ship’ because the sail is always seen first.
Salt or Old Salt
– Somebody who has been a sailor for a long time.
Schooner
- A ship with 2 masts, popular with pirates.
Scurvy
– A disease many sailors got because they didn’t eat enough vitamin C. Also an insult, as in ‘ye scurvy landlubber’.
Scuttle
– To make a hole in a ship’s hull or to sink the ship.
Sea dog –Somebody who has been a sailor for a long time.
Sealegs –What you have when you’re used to the sway of boat on the ocean.
Shantey
– The songs pirates sing while they are working. (Also spelt ‘chantey’ or ‘shanty’.)
Shanty
– The songs pirates sing while they are working. (Also spelt ‘chantey’ or ‘shantey’.)
Shipshape
– To be neat and tidy.
Shiver me timbers
– ‘What a surprise.’
Sink me
– ‘What a surprise.’
Sloop
- A ship with 2 masts that was good in shallow water.
Smartly
– Quickly.
Splice the mainbrace
– To have an alcoholic drink or two.
Spyglass
– A telescope.
Starboard
– The right side of the ship (if you are facing the pointed end).
Sutler
– The merchant on land who sells pirates all the supplies and things they need to repair their ship.
Swab
– To clean something or a name for somebody you don’t like very much.
Swag
– Gold and riches.
T
To be three sheets to the wind
– To have drunk too much alcohol.
Titivate
– To clean up and make neat.
W
Walk the plank
– To be forced to walk along and off the end of a plank that has been placed over the side of a ship.
Weevil
– A kind of beetle that can eat your food before you do.
Weigh anchor
– To lift the anchor and be ready to sail.
Wench
– A woman.
Y
Ye
– Used instead of ‘you’.
Yer
– Used instead of ‘your’.
