he sun or moon's nearest limb, &c.

LIMBER. In artillery, the two-wheeled carriage to which the trail of a
field gun-carriage is attached for travel.--_Limber-boxes_ are the
chests fitted above the axle-tree of the limber for ammunition.--_Limber
up!_ is the command so to raise and attach.

LIMBER BOARDS OR PLATES. Short movable pieces of plank; a part of the
lining of a ship's floor, close to the keelson, and immediately above
the limbers. They are occasionally removed to clear them of any rubbish
by which they may be clogged, so as to interrupt the passage of water to
the pump-well.

LIMBER-BOX. Synonymous with _limber-trunk_.

LIMBER-CLEARER. A small chain rove fore-and-aft through the
limber-passage to clear it when necessary, by hauling backwards and
forwards.

LIMBER-PASSAGE. The line of limber-holes throughout the whole length of
the floor, on each side of the keelson, for the water to have free
access to the pumps.

LIMBER-PLATES. _See_ LIMBER-BOARDS.

LIMBER-STREAK. The streak of foot-waling nearest the keelson, wrought
over the lower ends of the first futtocks.

LIMBO. Restraint, durance, confinement under arrest, or in the bilboes.
Dante uses this term for a division of the infernal regions.

LIMB-TANGENT. The accurate touch of the edge of a celestial body to the
horizon.

LIME OR LEMON JUICE. A valuable anti-scorbutic, included by act of
parliament in the scale of provisions for seamen. It has latterly been
so much adulterated that scurvy has increased threefold in a few years.

LIME-POTS. Formerly supplied among the munitions of war to ships.

LIMITING PARALLELS. The parallels of latitude upon the earth's surface,
within which occultations of stars or planets by the moon are possible.
They are given in the _Nautical Almanac_ for each occultation.

LIMMER. The side-rope to a poop or other ladder.

LIMPET. A well-known shell-fish, giving rise to the brackish proverb,
"Sticking fast like a limpet to a rock."

LINCH OR LINS PIN. The iron pin which keeps the trucks of a gun-carriage
confined to the axle-tree.

LINE, TO. To cover one piece with another. Also, to mark out the work on
a floor for determining the shape of a vessel's body.--_To line a ship_,
is to strike off with a batten, or otherwise, the directional lines for
painting her. (_See_ TOE A LINE.)

LINE. The general appellation of a number of small ropes in a ship, as
buntlines, clue-lines, bowlines, &c. Also, the term in common pa