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fore-and-after

American  
[fawr-uhnd-af-ter, ahf-, fohr-] / ˈfɔr əndˈæf tər, ˈɑf-, ˈfoʊr- /

noun

  1. Nautical.

    1. a sailing vessel with a fore-and-aft rig.

    2. a beam running fore and aft across a hatchway to support hatch covers laid athwart the hatchway.

    3. a vessel having a sharp stern; a double ender.

  2. deerstalker.


fore-and-after British  

noun

  1. any vessel with a fore-and-aft rig

  2. a double-ended vessel

"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

Etymology

Origin of fore-and-after

First recorded in 1815–25; fore-and-aft + -er 1

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.

They pass an iceberg or a derelict, some contour of tropical shore, a fishing fleet, or an old fore-and-after, and the steamer is a stifling modern metropolis after that—galley and stoke-hole its slums.

From Child and Country A Book of the Younger Generation by Comfort, Will Levington

It caught the sails of the new fore-and-after, and the little craft fell over on another tack and shot away.

From Billy Topsail & Company A Story for Boys by Duncan, Norman

The Admiral Hood was a small dandy-rigged fore-and-after, that is to say, she was a cutter with a small mizzen on which she would set a lugsail.

From King's Cutters and Smugglers 1700-1855 by Chatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble)

Indeed, I believe that only the first mate and the doctor had ever before handled a fore-and-after.

From The Cruise of the 'Alerte' The narrative of a search for treasure on the desert island of Trinidad by Knight, E. F. (Edward Frederick)

The beauty of a fore-and-after is that she practically works herself, all that is needed being three or four hands on the forecastle to trim over the jib and fore sheets as she comes round.

From A Middy of the King A Romance of the Old British Navy by Hodgson, Edward S.

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