boot-toppingn.
Nautical.
a. (See quot. 1769.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > fitting out or equipping ships > cleaning and recoating bottom
graving1627
cleaning1662
boot-topping1769
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine Boot-topping, the act of cleaning the upper-part of a ship's bottom..and daubing it over with..a coat or mixture of tallow, sulphur, resin, &c. Boot-topping is chiefly performed where there is no dock..or when..hurry..renders it inconvenient to have the whole bottom..cleansed.
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b. ‘Boot-topping..is now applied to sheathing a vessel with planking over felt.’ Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867.
c. (See quot. 1894.)
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > side(s) of vessel > [noun] > waterline > part between light laden waterlines
boot-top1788
boot-topping1894
1788 Earl of Dundonald Direct. for using Coal Tar Proofs of Effic. 22 The worm had not touched the bottom lower than the boot-topping.
1894 H. Paasch From Keel to Truck (ed. 2) 46/1 Boot-topping, is the term applied to that portion of the outside-plating or planking of a vessel between the light-water-line and the load-line. The coating (also the wood-sheathing of wooden vessels) on this part of a ship is likewise so named.
1927 G. Bradford Gloss. Sea Terms 18/2 Boot-topping, a band of paint at the water-line; usually red; the particular kind of paint used is called boot-topping.
1961 Times 2 Aug. 4/1 The paint of the boot-toppings gleamed in the fitful sun.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1887; most recently modified version published online September 2019).
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n.1769