OBBY. A name sometimes given to an apartment close before the great
cabin bulk-head.

LOB-COCK. A lubber; an old term of utter contempt.

LOBLOLLY. A name formerly applied to pottage, burgoo, or gruel.

LOBLOLLY-BOY. A man who attended the surgeon and his assistants, to
summon the sick, and attend on them. A man is now stationed in the bay,
under the designation of _sick-berth attendant_.

LOBSCOUSE. An olla-podrida of salt-meat, biscuit, potatoes, onions,
spices, &c., minced small and stewed together. (_See_ LAP'S COURSE.)

LOBSTER. A well-known marine crustacean, _Astacus marinus_. Also,
red-coats of old; whence _lobster-box_, a colloquialism for barracks.

LOBSTER-BOAT. A bluff, clincher-built vessel, fitted with a well, to
preserve the lobsters alive.

LOBSTER-TOAD. _See_ DEEP-SEA CRAB.

LOB-TAILING. The act of the sperm whale in violently beating the water
with its tail.

LOB-WORM. A worm found at low-water in sand, esteemed for bait.

LOCAL ATTRACTION. The effect of the iron in a ship on her compasses; it
varies with the position of a compass in a ship, also with that of a
ship on the earth's surface, and with the direction of the ship's head.
In iron ships it is affected by the line of direction in which they are
built. Its detection and remedies are amongst the most important studies
of navigators of iron ships and steamers.

LOCAL MARINE-BOARD. _See_ MARINE BOARDS.

LOCH. Gaelic for lake, in Scotland and Ireland. In Scotland also an arm
of the sea, where the tides ebb and flow; on the east coast called a
_firth_, though on the west mostly termed a _loch_.

LOCHABER AXE. A formidable weapon once used by the Highlanders.

LOCK. The striking instrument by which fire is produced for the
discharge of a gun, containing the cock, the hammer, the pan, &c. It was
first introduced in naval ordnance by Sir Charles Douglas, and has now
given way to the _detonating hammer_ and friction-tube, as the old match
and the salamander did to the lock.

LOCK. A spelling of _loch_ (which see). Also, the general name for any
works made to confine or raise the water of a river; a canal inclosed
between the sluice-gate above and the flood-gate below.

LOCK, TO. To entangle the lower yards when tacking.

LOCKAGE. The cost of passing vessels through canal-locks.

LOCKER. Divisions in cabins and store-rooms.--_Boatswain's locker._ A
chest in small craft wherein material for working upon rigging is
kept.--_Chain-locker_