slipway

[slip-wey]

noun Nautical.

(in a shipyard) the area sloping toward the water, on which the ways are located.

marine railway.

a ramp on a factory ship for hauling aboard carcasses of whales for processing.

Origin of slipway

First recorded in 1830–40; slip¹ + way¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for slipway

Historical Examples of slipway

When we are alongside they walk out to us in their waterproof thigh-boots and carry me on to the slipway.
'Green Balls'
Paul Bewsher
There is a repairing slipway accommodating vessels of 800 tons.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3
Various
In the slipway vacated by the olus a second class cruiser, to be named the Hermione, will be laid down forthwith.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 832, December 12, 1891
Various
At ten minutes to seven we sighted land and twenty minutes after we were resting on the water in front of Yarmouth slipway.
The Victory At Sea
William Sowden Sims
Master Calvin, seated astride the low wall above the slipway, almost rolled off his perch with laughter.
Shining Ferry
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

British Dictionary definitions for slipway

slipway

noun

the sloping area in a shipyard, containing the ways

Also called: marine railway the ways on which a vessel is launched

the ramp of a whaling factory ship

a pillowcase; pillowslip

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