marlinespike

American

[mahr-lin-spahyk] / ˈmɑr lɪnˌspaɪk /

Also marlinspike,

noun

Nautical.

a pointed iron implement used in separating the strands of rope in splicing, marling, etc.

marlinespike British

/ ˈmɑːlɪnˌspaɪk, ˈmɑːlɪŋˌspaɪk /

noun

nautical a pointed metal tool used as a fid, spike, and for various other purposes

"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 marlinespike

1620–30; originally marling spike. See marl ², -ing ¹, spike 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.

Last week, when the imprisoned officer was paroled in time for Christmas, the Navy sank its marlinespike even deeper by dunning him for $3,777.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Academy's first Cuban student, he graduated 126th among 467 in the class of 1920, and was more noted for his "silken line" with debutantes than for marlinespike seamanship.

From Time Magazine Archive

Then he set to work to jam down sail cloth and oakum between this barrier and the plank that had started, driving it down with a marlinespike and mallet.

From A Final Reckoning A Tale of Bush Life in Australia by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

Otie recovered his marlinespike and began to pound the eye-bolt.

From Blow The Man Down A Romance Of The Coast - 1916 by Day, Holman

Now and then the mates ordered me to do some little job or other, to fetch a swab or a marlinespike, or to hold a paint-pot, but they in no other way noticed me.

From Old Jack by Kingston, William Henry Giles

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023