pier headn.adj.
/ˈpɪə hɛd/, U.S. /ˈpɪr ˌ(h)ɛd/ A. n.
The seaward end of a pier.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > berthing, mooring, or anchoring > harbour or port > [noun] > jetty or pier > parts of
head1553
pier head1647
cant1861
pier-stake1900
the world > the earth > water > flow or flowing > flood or flooding > structures protecting from water or flooding > [noun] > mole or pier > seaward end of
molehead1585
pier head1647
1647 W. Eldred Gunners Glasse 73 My Lord Hayes being at the Castle was desirous to see a shot in the whole Covering, to the point of the Beach towards the South Peere-head, being distant 70 score.
1682 Sir T. Browne Let. 16 June in Wks. (1931) VI. 267 At a competent distance from the peere head, they anker.
1720 J. Burchett Compl. Hist. Trans. at Sea iv. xiii. 500 The Night before a Machine Vessel was blown up at the Pier-Head.
1779 G. Keate Sketches from Nature (ed. 2) II. 199 Half Margate thronged the Pier-Head.
1804 Trans. Soc. Arts 22 248 By a pier-head on the East and jutties on the West side.
a1894 R. L. Stevenson In South Seas (1896) i. viii. 68 One man, who was often to be seen seated on the logs at the pier-head, merits a word for the singularity of his history.
1915 Times 31 July 9/3 The band of the Royal Engineers will play on the cliffs and the pier orchestra on the pier-head.
1998 Yachts & Yachting 12 June 67/1 With the absence of a committee boat, downwind starts were made from the pier head out to sea.
B. adj. (attributive).
Designating or relating to a type of (often noisy or bawdy) entertainment traditionally associated with summer shows on piers in seaside resorts.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > performance arts > other dramatic or variety performances > [adjective]
self-acted1868
nude1869
pier head1909
showboating1936
1909 Daily Chron. 11 Feb. 6/5 That, I fancy, was the beginning of pierhead concerts at the seaside.
1932 Statesman (Calcutta) 2 Aug. There is always a public, and not only a pierhead public, for a thoroughly good pierrot show.
1963 Times 8 Feb. 14/5 Some ambiguous remarks..—in the best early pierhead manner—suggesting that he is either describing the chassis of a car technically or that of a young woman vulgarly.
1998 Guardian (Nexis) 14 Nov. 24 After that she appeared in many pantomimes and pierhead shows.
Compounds
pier-head jump n. the act of joining a ship's crew at the last minute, as the ship is about to sail; (also) a person who does this.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > action of taking ship > as ship is leaving
pier-head jump1883
society > travel > travel by water > [noun] > landing or leaving ship > as ship is leaving
pier-head jump1883
society > travel > travel by water > one who travels by water or sea > [noun] > who joins ship as it is leaving
pier-head jump1883
1883 W. C. Russell Sailors' Lang. 102 Pierhead jump, the tumbling of sailors aboard a ship at the last moment from the dock or pierhead.
1928 F. P. Harlow Making of Sailor 229 All the other members of the crew had made a pier-head jump during the night.
1967 S. Waters Indentures Indorsed 117 He had not passed the doctor, but was a pier-head jump.
1990 J. McPhee Looking for Ship 8 ‘You dash down and join the ship,’ Andy said... Shipping out that way is known as ‘a pierhead jump’.
pier-head jumper n. a person who joins a ship's crew just as the ship is about to sail.
ΚΠ
1880 Times 12 July 14/3 Incompetent men are constantly being supplied, by crimps and others at the shipping offices, or as ‘pierhead jumpers’, in consideration of the advance note.
1938 E. Linklater Child under Sail 169 There were no pier-head jumpers to be found, and we had to sail a man short.
1987 Jrnl. Commerce (Nexis) 5 Mar. 16 a A pier-head jumper is a crewmember who joins his ship at the last minute—if not literally leaping onto the vessel as it leaves the dock, then arriving perhaps a half-hour before it sails.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1647