guess warp

English

Alternative forms

guess-warp

Etymology

Because it is necessary to guess at the length to be carried in the boat making the attachment to a distant object.

Noun

guess warp (plural guess warps)

1. (nautical, dated) A rope or hawser by which a vessel is towed or moored.
   • 1912, Kyrle Bellew, Short Stories, How I Got on the Stage:

     My foot touched land for the first time for ninety days when I leaped from the rail onto the dolphin at the Dock gates, slipped the end of our guess-warp over the bollard, and sang out to them inboard to take in the slack.

References

• “guess warp”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.