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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

"That is not the kind of a marlinespike I am," replied the Captain quaintly.

From Dulcibel A Tale of Old Salem by Pyle, Howard

Nature, however, at last gave way, and if we stopped for a moment we went fast asleep with a rope or marlinespike in our hands.

From Peter Trawl The Adventures of a Whaler by Durden, James

A splintered board showed where it had struck, and a smaller indentation where it had rebounded; but the marlinespike was gone, and Burns had not seen it.

From The After House by Rinehart, Mary Roberts

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