Hi,
Reading a text, I’ve found an expression that I can’t really understand: a ship’s timber. Is this a part of a ship? Or is it a material (wood) used to make ships? Could someone explain it to me?
Thanks a lot for helping,
Tico
It’s a part of the ship. I think it’s the curvy wood that comes up vertically from the keel, but I’m a landlubber and don’t know my ship anatomy that well. Hopefully you’ll get a better answer.
Hello tico!
Mr. Donnelly is right. Webster’s New Ecnyclopedic Dictionary gives the following definition:
timber > n > […] 4: a curving frame branching outward from the keel of a ship that is usually composed of several pieces united: RIB [Old English, “building, wood”]
For a glossary of shipbuilding terms, see here: http://www.parl.ns.ca/woodenships/terms.htm
Bye,
Carolus Raeticus
Hence the phrase “Shiver me timbers!”, from when a cannonball hits a ship, and makes the wood shake.