ng against
them as the knee gets worn.

FACES OF A WORK. In fortification, are the two lines forming its most
prominent salient angle.

FACHON. An Anglo-Norman term for a sword or falchion.

FACING. Letting one piece of timber into another with a rabbet to give
additional strength or finish. Also, a movement for forming soldiers and
small-arm men.--_Facings._ The front of regimentals and uniforms.

FACK. _See_ FAKE.

FACTOR. A commercial superintendent, or agent residing beyond sea,
commissioned by merchants to buy or sell goods on their account by a
letter of attorney.

FACTORAGE. A certain percentage paid to the factor by the merchant on
all he buys or sells.

FACTORY. A place where a considerable number of factors reside; as
Lisbon, Leghorn, Calcutta, &c. Factory comprehends the business of a
firm or company, as that of the India Company at Canton, or the Hudson's
Bay Fur Company in North America.

FACULAE. Luminous streaks upon the disc of the sun, among which the
maculae, or dark spots, usually appear.

FADOME. The old form used for _fathom_ (which see).

FAFF, TO. To blow in flaws.

FAG, TO. To tire.--_A fag._ A deputy labouring-man, or one who works
hard for another.

FAG-END. Is the end of any rope. This term is also applied to the end of
a rope when it has become untwisted.

FAGGOTS. Men who used to be hired to answer to names on the books, when
the crew were mustered by the clerk of the cheque. Such cheating was
once still more prevalent in the army.

FAGOT. A billet for stowing casks. A _fascine_ (which see).

FAG-OUT, TO. To wear out the end of a rope or end of canvas.

FAIK, OR FALK. A name in the Hebrides for the sea-fowl razor-bill (_Alca
torda_).

FAIR. A general term for the wind when favourable to a ship's course, in
opposition to contrary or foul; _fair_ is more comprehensive than
_large_, since it includes about 16 points, whereas large is confined to
the beam or quarter, that is, to a wind which crosses the keel at right
angles, or obliquely from the stern, but never to one right astern.
(_See_ LARGE and SCANT.)--_Fair_, in ship-building, denotes the evenness
or regularity of a curve or line.--_To fair_, means to clip the timbers
fair.

FAIR-CURVE. In delineating ships, is a winding line whose shape is
varied according to the part of the ship it is intended to describe.
This curve is not answerable to any of the figures of conic sections,
although it occasionally partakes of