The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket

The Quaker Graveyard in Nantucket Glossary

shoal

a large number of fish swimming together

hurdling

to take part in a race that involves jumping hurdles. Here, perhaps a reference to how the dead sailor's leg muscles were knotted up post-mortem

portent

a sign or warning that something, especially something momentous or calamitous, is likely to happen.

dreadnaughts

a type of battleship from the early 20th century

bulwark

an extension of a ship's sides above the level of the deck.

spinnaker

a large three-cornered sail, typically bulging when full, set forward of the mainsail of a yacht when running before the wind.

mainsheet

a rope connected to the boom which allows a sailor to control the speed of a boat

harrowed

broken up, then smoothed over

bilge

the area on the outer surface of a ship's hull where the bottom curves to meet the vertical sides; also used figuratively to mean nonsense

Clamavimus

Latin: "We cry out"

viscera

the intestines

penitents

people seeking repentance

Shiloah

a pool in the City of David, referred to in the Bible

Non est species, neque decor

Latin for, "it has no form or majesty"

cenotaph

an empty tomb or monument

gaff

part of a ship's sail

combers

a long sea wave

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