a stout bar of wood or metal placed across a lower spar so as to support a higher one.
a stout bar used to hold a running bowsprit in its extended position.
a wooden or metal pin for parting strands of a rope.
a bar or pin used as a key or toggle.
a spike for separating strands of rope in splicing
a wooden or metal bar for supporting the heel of a topmast
First recorded in 1605–15; origin uncertain
< Latin -fidus divided, equivalent to -fid- (variant stem of findere to split) + -us adj. suffix
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Then as soon as I fid someone, he cancels everything?
From Slate ● Nov. 11, 2019
He picked them up, took the fid off the can, and painstakingly pulled the bag out while trying not to make very much noise.
From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley
Needham hurried aloft, and while the midshipmen hauled on the heel-rope of the topmast—the shrouds and stays being slacked—he tugged away at the fid.
From The Three Lieutenants by Webb, Archibald
I got a good insight, however, into the uses of the serving-mallet, the fid, marlinspike and winch, and did something with the needle and palm.
From Afloat and Ashore A Sea Tale by Cooper, James Fenimore
"Will that fid hold?" questioned Tom examining the spot.
From Boy Scouts in Southern Waters by Ralphson, G. Harvey (George Harvey)
One case there was where, for three nights running, great fids of wire were cut out of some artillery cables connecting them with their observers—a most reprehensible deed.
From The Doings of the Fifteenth Infantry Brigade August 1914 to March 1915 by Gleichen, Edward, Lord
The same correspondent writes:— 'We cut out regular "fids" once from a tiger's stomach, also large pieces of bone.
From Sport and Work on the Nepaul Frontier Twelve Years Sporting Reminiscences of an Indigo Planter by Inglis, James
The other rigging I cut, and having got out the fids of the two masts, one at a time, I pushed the spars through their respective caps with a foot.
From Miles Wallingford Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" by Cooper, James Fenimore
Old Cupid carried the Wallingford's ensign, and a sort of harlequinade had been made out of marlinspikes, serving mallets, sail-maker's palms, and fids.
From Miles Wallingford Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" by Cooper, James Fenimore
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
