ALMIRANTE. A great sea-officer or high-admiral in Spain.

ALMIRANTESA. The wife of an admiral.

ALMURY. The upright part of an astrolabe.

ALNUS CAVER. Transport-ships of the early English, so called from the
wood of which they were constructed.

ALOFT [Anglo-Saxon, _alofte_, on high]. Above; overhead; on high.
Synonymous with up above the tops, at the mast-head, or anywhere about
the higher yards, masts, and rigging of ships.--_Aloft there!_ the
hailing of people in the tops.--_Away aloft!_ the command to the people
in the rigging to climb to their stations. Also, heaven: "Poor Tom is
gone _aloft_."

ALONDE. An old English word for ashore, on land.

ALONG [Saxon]. Lengthwise.--_Alongside_, by the side of a ship; side by
side.--_Lying along_, when the wind, being on the beam, presses the ship
over to leeward with the press of sail; or, _lying along_ the land.

ALONGSHORE. A common nautical phrase signifying along the coast, or a
course which is in sight of the shore, and nearly parallel to it. (_See_
'LONGSHORE.)

ALONGST. In the middle of a stream; moored head and stern.

ALOOF. The old word for "keep your luff," in the act of sailing to the
wind. (_See_ LUFF.)--_Keep aloof_, at a distance.

ALOOFE. _See_ ALEWIFE.

ALOW. Synonymous with _below_; as _alow_ and _aloft_, though more
properly _low_ and _aloft_. Carrying all sail _alow and aloft_ is when
the reefs are shaken out, and all the studding-sails set.

ALPHABETICAL LIST. This is a list which accompanies the ship's books; it
contains the names and number of every person in the pay-book.

ALTAIR. The bright nautical star {a} Aquilae, binary.

ALTAR. A platform in the upper part of a dock.

ALTEMETRIE. The old term for trigonometry among navigators.

ALTERNATE. Reciprocal.--_Alternate angles_ are the internal angles
formed by a line cutting two parallels, and lying on the opposite side
of the cutting line; the one below the first parallel, and the other
above.--_Alternate ratio_ is that of which the antecedents and
consequents bear respectively to each other in any proportion which has
the quantities of the same kind.

ALTERNATING WINDS. Peculiar winds blowing at stated times one way, and
then, from a sudden alteration in the temperature of the elements,
setting in the contrary direction. A remarkable instance is that of the
Gulf of Arta in the Ionian Sea, where the effect is promoted by local
causes. All land and sea breezes are strictly alternat