sennit

American  

[sen-it] / ˈsɛn ɪt /

Also sinnet or sennet

noun

1. a flat, braided cordage, formed by plaiting strands of rope yarn or other fiber, used as small stuff aboard ships.

2. braided straw or grass used in making hats.

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sennit British  

/ ˈsɛnɪt /

noun

1. a flat braided cordage used on ships

2. plaited straw, grass, palm leaves, etc, as for making hats

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Etymology

Origin of sennit

First recorded in 1760–70; origin uncertain

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

sennit

It was built like the houses, without a single nail, but all the planks were sewed together with sennit.

From Taking Tales Instructive and Entertaining Reading by Kingston, William Henry Giles

Presently, when I had made an end of this, I called for a length of the sennit, and, with the aid of another man, contrived to string one of the bows.

From The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" by Hodgson, William Hope

We had also made a quantity of string, or what sailors call sennit, which, twisted together, would serve as cordage for the vessel.

From The Wanderers Adventures in the Wilds of Trinidad and Orinoco by Perat

Slowly we edged our way across the belt of calms to the northward of the Line, inch by inch, our efforts almost entirely confined to working the ship and making sennit.

From The Log of a Sea-Waif Being Recollections of the First Four Years of My Sea Life by Bullen, Frank T.

Nor is production of sewed straw hats confined to those made of sennit braids; hats are made of other braids as well.

From Men's Sewed Straw Hats Report of the United Stated Tariff Commission to the President of the United States (1926) by Commission, United States Tariff