or figure.

FLIBOAT. _See_ FLY-BOAT.

FLIBUSTIER [Fr.] A freebooter, pirate, &c.

FLICKER, TO. To veer about.

FLIDDER. A northern name for the limpet.

FLIGHERS. An old law-term meaning masts of ships.

FLIGHT. A Dutch vessel or passage-boat on canals. In ship-building, a
sudden rising, or a greater curve than sheer, at the cheeks, cat-heads,
&c.

FLIGHT OF A SHOT. The trajectory formed between the muzzle of the gun
and the first graze.

FLIGHT OF THE TRANSOMS. As their ends gradually close downwards on
approaching the keel, they describe a curve somewhat similar to the
rising of the floors; whence the name.

FLINCH. In ship-building. (_See_ SNAPE.)

FLINCH-GUT. The whale's blubber; as well as the part of the hold into
which it is thrown before being barrelled up.

FLINCHING, FLENSING, OR FLINSING. _See_ FLENSE.

FLINDERS. An old word for splinters; thus Walter Scott's Borderer--

"The tough ash-spear, so stout and true,
Into a thousand flinders flew."

FLINT. The stone of a gun-lock, by which a spark was elicited for the
discharge of the loaded piece.

FLIP. A once celebrated sea-drink, composed of beer, spirits, and sugar,
said to have been introduced by Sir Cloudesley Shovel. Also, a smart
blow.

FLIPPER. The fin-like paw or paddle of marine mammalia; it is also
applied to the hand, as when the boatswain's mate exulted in having
"taken a lord by the flipper."

FLITCH. The outside cut or slab of a tree.

FLITTER. The Manx name for limpet.

FLITTERING. An old English word for floating.

FLIZZING. The passage of a splinter [from the Dutch _flissen_, to fly].

FLO. An old English word for arrow, used by Chaucer.

FLOAT [Anglo-Saxon _fleot_ or _fleet_]. A place where vessels float, as
at Northfleet. Also, the inner part of a ship-canal. In wet-docks ships
are kept afloat while loading and discharging cargo. Two double gates,
having a lock between them, allow the entry and departure of vessels
without disturbing the inner level. Also, a raft or quantity of timber
fastened together, to be floated along a river by a tide or current.

FLOATAGE. Synonymous with _flotsam_ (which see). Pieces of wreck
floating about.

FLOAT-BOARDS. The same as _floats_ of a paddle-wheel.

FLOATING ANCHOR. A simple machine consisting of a fourfold canvas,
stretched by two cross-bars of iron, rivetted in the centre, and swifted
at the ends. It is made to hang perpendicularly at some distance below
the sur