shipping articles

American

noun

(used with a plural verb)

articles of agreement.

Etymology

Origin of shipping articles

First recorded in 1830–40

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.

As for fine words, I might have fancied myself a cousin of the king's, if I'd only put my name to their shipping articles.

From The Wing-and-Wing Le Feu-Follet by Cooper, James Fenimore

To say a few words of advice, Neb, to take leave of my friends, and then to be struck off the shipping articles of life.

From Miles Wallingford Sequel to "Afloat and Ashore" by Cooper, James Fenimore

If Josiah expected any relaxation in Captain Eri's stern discipline he was disappointed, for he was held to the strict letter of the "shipping articles."

From Cap'n Eri by Lincoln, Joseph Crosby

My name was entered on the shipping articles as mate, although it was verbally understood that I was to be considered as the navigator and sailing master.

From Journal of Voyages Containing an Account of the Author's being Twice Captured by the English and Once by Gibbs the Pirate... by Dunham, Jacob

When once the shipping articles had been signed coaxing and persuasion were at an end, and the man with the gray mustache had become a dictator, to disobey whom meant severe or even capital punishment.

From Cruise and Captures of the Alabama by Goodrich, Albert M.

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