deadlight

American  

[ded-lahyt] / ˈdɛdˌlaɪt /

noun

Nautical.

1. a strong shutter able to be screwed against the interior of a porthole in heavy weather.

2. a thick pane of glass set in the hull or deck to admit light.

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deadlight British  

/ ˈdɛdˌlaɪt /

noun

1. nautical

   1. a bull's-eye let into the deck or hull of a vessel to admit light to a cabin

   2. a shutter of wood or metal for sealing off a porthole or cabin window

2. a skylight designed not to be opened

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Etymology

Origin of deadlight

First recorded in 1720–30; dead + light ¹

Example Sentences

Feast on the details: white gold cowlings and guards, tiny coils to scale of halyards hung on mast cleats, even deadlight prisms of acrylic in the cockpit deck.

From Time Magazine Archive

You get out of the deadlight vis ze sheep in full sail.

From Cormorant Crag A Tale of the Smuggling Days by Rainey, W. (William)

Tossing his cigar through the opened deadlight, Denman arose and unlocked his door, passing into the small and empty wardroom.

From The Wreck of the Titan or, Futility by Robertson, Morgan

The four changed from the window to the deadlight, and watched the approaching disk with every bit of the excitement and interest they had felt when nearing Mercury.

From The Lord of Death and the Queen of Life by Flint, Homer Eon

Standing by the port deadlight, I spotted magnificent coral substructures, zoophytes, algae, and crustaceans with enormous quivering claws that stretched forth from crevices in the rock.

From Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Walter, F. P.