EN IN, TO. The action of hauling in the aftmost clue of a sail to
give it greater power of turning the vessel; thus, if the mizen or after
sails are flatted in, it is to carry the stern to leeward, and the head
to windward; and if, on the contrary, the head-sails are flatted in, the
intention is to make the ship fall off when, by design or accident, she
has come so near as to make the sails shiver; hence _flatten in forward_
is the order to haul in the jib and foretop-mast staysail-sheets towards
the middle of the ship, and haul forward the fore-bowline; this
operation is seldom necessary except when the helm has not sufficient
government of the ship, as in variable winds or inattentive steerage.

FLAUT. _See_ FLUTE.

FLAVER. An east-country term for froth or foam of surf.

FLAWS. Sudden gusts of wind, sometimes blowing with violence; whence
Shakspeare in _Coriolanus_:

"Like a great sea-mark, standing every flaw."

But flaws also imply occasional fickle breezes in calm weather. _Flaw_
is also used to express any crack in a gun or its carriage.

FLEACHES. Portions into which timber is cut by the saw.

FLEAK. _See_ DUTCH PLAICE.

FLEAM. A northern name for a water-course.

FLEAT, OR FLEET. _See_ FLEETING.

FLEATE, TO. To skim fresh water off the sea, as practised at the mouths
of the Rhone, the Nile, &c. The word is derived from the Dutch
_vlieten_, to skim milk; it also means to float. (_See_ FLEET.)

FLECHE. The simplest form of field-work, composed of two faces meeting
in a salient angle, and open at the gorge. It differs from the redan
only in having no ditch.

FLECHERRA. A swift-sailing South American despatch vessel.

FLECK. An east-country term for lightning.

FLEECH. An outside portion of timber cut by the saw.

FLEET [Teut. _flieffen_]. The old word for float: as "we fleeted down
the river with our boats;" and Shakspeare makes Antony say,

"Our sever'd navy too
Have knit again, and fleet, threat'ning most sea-like."

_Fleet_ is also an old term for an arm of the sea, or running water
subject to the tide. Also, a bay where vessels can remain afloat. (_See_
FLOAT.) A salt-water tide-creek.

FLEET. A general name given to the royal navy. Also, any number of
ships, whether designed for war or commerce, keeping in company. A
fleet of ships of war is usually divided into three squadrons, and
these, if numerous, are again separated into subdivisions. The