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about-ship

[uh-bout-ship]

verb (used without object), a·bout-shipped, a·bout-ship·ping.

Nautical. to tack.

Origin of about-ship

First recorded in 1680–90

about ship

interjection

(as a command) put the ship about.

Origin of about ship

First recorded in 1865–70
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for about-ship

about-ship

verb -ships, -shipping or -shipped

(intr) nautical to manoeuvre a vessel onto a new tack
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012