nun buoyn.
/ˈnʌn bɔɪ/, U.S. /ˈnən ˌbʊi/, /ˈnən ˌbɔɪ/ Nautical. Chiefly U.S.
A buoy which is circular in the middle and tapering to each end.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > buoys, marks, or lighthouses > [noun] > buoy > other types of buoy
can-buoy1626
mast-buoy1675
nun buoy1703
breakwater1769
under-buoy1793
light buoy1822
bell-buoy1838
spar-buoy1860
gas buoy1865
whistling buoy1880
puppy1890
singing-buoy1894
gas float1895
1703 W. Dampier Voy. New Holland iii. 149 The Tide..runs very swift here, so that our Nun-buoy would not bear above the Water to be seen.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Buoy Nun-buoys, are shaped like the middle frustum of two cones, abutting upon one common base.
1816 Foulerton Specif. Patent 4040 The term nun buoy is applied generally to that description of buoy which is fastened by a rope to a ship's anchor by which you may know where the anchor lies.
1874 F. G. D. Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. v. 108 Wrecks will still continue to be marked by green nun buoys.
1915 Science 21 May 741/1 A favorite place for making these evening collections was in the ‘hole’, where the launch would be made fast to the nun buoy.
1940 Sun (Baltimore) 21 Feb. 19/4 Craighill..bell buoy..was replaced in its charted position..and the temporary nun buoy was withdrawn.
1999 W. L. Heat Moon River Horse vi. 181 Barges askew in the trees, and bobbing nun-buoys playing peekaboo in the current.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1703