davit
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of davit
1325–75; Middle English daviot < Anglo-French, apparently diminutive of Davi David
Explanation
When a large ship has a small, onboard crane that lowers lifeboats into the water, that crane is called a davit. Oil rigs and cruise ships are examples of vessels that have permanent, fixed davits. One of the less well-known facts about the Titanic disaster is that its crew wasn't properly trained on how to operate the davits. The lifeboats were boarded and lowered so slowly that the crew wasn't able to use every available lifeboat in time. Modern ships installed with davits make it easy to get passengers into these boats and get them into the water. Davit comes from David and a tradition of referring to objects with a person's name.
Vocabulary lists containing davit
A Night to Remember
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Novel Study: A Night to Remember, Chapter 6–Passenger List
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Secrets at Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
During a stop at the Russian port of Vladivostok, last October, the crew tried, without success, to repair a davit, a small specialised crane used to lower the tanker's life boats into the water.
From BBC • Feb. 10, 2026
In a 1960 a davit, Sandy Cameron’s son-in-law Forrest Hargress stated that an unrecorded deed was dated July 1, 1876.
From Slate • Nov. 1, 2017
Returning from Bermuda in recent years he saw an old Grottie, ten years out, climb an ocean liner's davit to wave goodbyes.
From Time Magazine Archive
Our Grand Banks was equipped with a davit on the boat deck and, since the Lifesling can be used for hoisting, we gave that a try and it worked well.
From Time Magazine Archive
Americans drove the trucks and used a windlass and a kind of davit to pull the filled barrels aboard.
From "Travels with Charley in Search of America" by John Steinbeck
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.
