Weather sb. World English Historical Dictionary

Weather sb. World English Historical Dictionary Dictionary Biographies Literary Criticism Welcome Terms of Service ⧏ Previous Next ⧐ Contents Slice Contents Key Bibliographic Record Murray’s New English Dictionary. 1928, rev. 2024. Weather sb. Forms: 1 weder, 2 wæder, 2–5 weder, 4 Sc. vedir, weddire, wedyre, 4–5 wedir(e, wedre, wedur, wedyr, whedir, 5 Sc. weddre, -ir, -yr, wedere, wedyer, wheder, whed(d)yr, 6 woddur, wedor, Sc. wadder, (veddir), wodder, -ir, woder, (vodder); 5 wethyr, 5–7 wether, 5–6 whether, 6, 9 Sc. wathir, (6 vedthir), 6– weather. Com. Teut. (not recorded in Gothic): OE. weder neut., OFris. weder, wether (NFris. wedder, WFris. waer, war), OS. wedar weather, storm, Du. weder, weer, OHG. wetar (MHG. weter, mod.G. wetter), ON. veðr (Sw. väder, Da. vejr):—OTeut. *weðro-m. It is uncertain whether the pre-Teut. form was *wedhro-m (= OSI. vedro, Russian ведро good weather, vedrŭ adj., fair, said of weather; cogn. w. Lith. vidras, vydra, storm, ándra storm, flood) or *wetró-m (ablaut-var. of Lith. vétra storm, Osl. vĕtrŭ air, wind); on either alternative the word is prob. f. the Indogermanic root *wē to blow (see WIND sb.1) + suffix dhro- or tro-.

1   The spelling with th instead of the earlier d first occurs in the 15th c. (though the pronunciation which it indicates may well be much older); before the end of the 16th c. it had become universal. In several dialects, chiefly Sc. and n.w., the pronunciation with (d) still survives. See TH 6, and the note s.v. FATHER sb.

2   The nautical use = wind, direction of the wind (see senses 3, 8) is probably derived from ON. veðr.]

3   1.  The condition of the atmosphere (at a given place and time) with respect to heat or cold, quantity of sunshine, presence or absence of rain, hail, snow, thunder, fog, etc., violence or gentleness of the winds. Also, the condition of the atmosphere regarded as subject to vicissitudes.

4   For wind and weather (rarely † weather and wind) see WIND sb.

5 c. 725.  Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), T 121. Temperiem, uueder.

6 a. 1000.  Azarias, 62. Wedere onlicust, þonne on sumeres tid sended weorþeð dropena dreorung.

7 a. 1100.  Gerefa, in Anglia, IX. 259. Þæt he friðiʓe & forðiʓe ælce [tilþe] be ðam … ðe hine weder wisað.

8 c. 1205.  Lay., 12042. Þe wind gond aliðen & þat weder leoðede.

9 1297.  R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2441. & vor weder & oþer þing on erþe after hom [sc. the planets] moche is, Þis misbileuede men hom clupede godes.

10 c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, III. 670. And if ye liggen wel to-night, com ofte, And careth not what weder is on-lofte.

11 c. 1400.  T. Chestre, Launfal, 223. And for hete of the wedere Hys mantell he feld togydere And sette hym doun to reste.

12 c. 1403.  Lydg., Temple of Glas, 395. And oft also, aftir a dropping mone, The weddir clereþ.

13 c. 1450.  St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 627. But sodanly þe wedir chaunged.

14 c. 1520.  Skelton, Garl. Laurel, 1442. How men were wonte for to discerne By candelmes day what wedder shuld holde.

15 1545.  Ascham, Toxoph., II. (Arb.), 161. The lengthe or shortnesse of the marke is alwayes vnder the rule of the wether.

16 1545.  Raynalde, Byrth Mankynde, 83. Item the intemperancie & mutation of the ayre, & whether, may be cause of aborcement.

17 1528.  Lyndesay, Dreme, 774. Surmountyng the myd Regioun of the air, Quhare no maner of perturbatioun Off wodder may ascend so hie as thair.

18 1609.  Pimlyco, or Runne Red-Cap, D 2. To know what Wether was to come By ’th Almanacke.

19 1667.  Sprat, Hist. Royal-Soc., 247. A Wheel-Barometer, and other Instruments for finding the pressure of the Air, and serving to predict the changes of the Weather.

20 1678.  Lady Chaworth, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 45. Lady Portsmouth … goes to Bourbon as soone as the weather opens to allow travelling.

21 1779.  Mirror, No. 35. The conversation began about the weather, my aunt observing, that the seasons were wonderfully altered in her memory.

22 1853.  Mrs. Gaskell, Ruth, xxv. It was weather for open doors and windows.

23 1859.  H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, viii. However, I am sincerely glad you are come, I knew no weather would stop you.

24 1890.  C. Dixon, Ann. Bird Life, 309. They are birds which have no regular winter home … they wander to and fro, south and north, just as the exigency of the weather drives them.

25   ¶ In advb. phrases sometimes with omission of in.

26 1738.  C’tess Pomfret, in C’tess Hartford’s Corr. (1805), I. 10. On your left hand is the fire (no bad thing this weather), and on your right a window.

27 1896.  Housman, Shropshire Lad, xxv. Fred keeps the house all kinds of weather.

28   b.  With descriptive adj., e.g., good, bad; hot, cold, warm; bright, dull; fine, fair, foul; dry, wet, rainy; clear, thick; rough, windy, still, calm.

29 c. 893.  K. Ælfred, Oros., VI. xxxii. Þa het he betan þærinne micel fyr, for þon hit wæs ceald weder.

30 c. 1000.  Ags. Gosp., Matt. xvi. 2. To-morʓen byt byð smylte weder, þes heofen ys read.

31 c. 1220.  Bestiary, 336. Ðe mire is maȝti, Mikel ȝe swinkeð In sumer and in softe weder.

32 c. 1290.  S. E. Leg., 198. Þat weder þat was so cler and fair.

33 1340.  Ayenb., 129. Ase uayr weder went in-to rene.

34 c. 1340.  Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 1442. Nowes the wedir bright and shynand, And now waxes it alle domland.

35 c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 2440. What of here hard heiȝing & of þe hote weder, Meliors was al mat.

36 1362.  Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 310. Þorw Flodes and foul weder Fruites schul fayle.

37 c. 1394.  P. Pl. Crede, 300. Nou han þei … hosen in harde weder.

38 c. 1440.  Promp. Parv., 146/1. Fayre, mery wedur or tyme, amenus.

39 1470–85.  Malory, Arthur, XIV. ix. 653. And at that tyme the wheder was hote.

40 1490.  Caxton, Eneydos, xv. 56. The reyny wedre therto propyce and conuenable.

41 1578.  Lyte, Dodoens, II. xlvi. 204. Sometimes they flower againe in Autumne when the whether is milde and pleasant.

42 1600.  Shaks., A. Y. L., V. iv. 142. You and you, are sure together, As the Winter to fowle Weather.

43 1631.  Pellham, Gods Power, 4. But the next day,… the weather falling out something thicke, and much yce in the Offing [etc.].

44 1653.  Walton, Angler, ii. 41. The gloves of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands against wet weather that can be thought of.

45 1774.  M. Mackenzie, Maritime Surv., 95. In moderate Weather, anchor a Vessel at the Shoal.

46 1782.  Miss Burney, Cecilia, VIII. ix. To go out in all weather to work. Ibid., IX. v. The weather being good on the morning he called.

47 1842.  Dickens, Amer. Notes, ii. The vessel being pretty deep in the water,… and the weather being calm and quiet, there was but little motion. Ibid. (1853), Bleak Ho., xv. There was no fire, though the weather was cold.

48 1919.  H. L. Wilson, Ma Pettengill, 165. Will you look at that mess of clouds? I bet it’s falling weather over in Surprise Valley.

49   c.  fig. and in figurative context.

50 1603.  R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw., 65. Iustinian restored it [the Empire] somewhat to a better state, driuing the Vandals out of Africke, and the Gothes out of Italy by his captaines; but this faire weather lasted not long.

51 1630.  Bp. Hall, Occas. Medit., § 73. O God … Let mee haue no Weather but Sunneshine from thee.

52 1751.  Smollett, Per. Pickle, xcvi. Pipes, who … knew the contents of the piece [a pistol], asked … if it must be foul weather through the whole voyage.

53 1818.  Scott, Hrt. Midl., xlvii. Certain polemical skirmishes betwixt her father and her husband, which … often threatened unpleasant weather between them.

54 1862.  Thackeray, Philip, xxviii. We hadn’t much besides our pay, had we? we rubbed on through bad weather and good, managing as best we could.

55 1878.  E. W. Benson, in Life (1899), I. xiii. 463. But we have foul weather coming. We have to do the Church’s work without sacrificing those party men, [etc.].

56 1901.  N. Amer. Rev., Feb., 266. A barometer is thus formed by which the financial weather of the country is forecast.

57   † d.  With indef. article: A kind of weather; a spell of a particular kind of weather. Obs.

58 c. 1205.  Lay., 4573. Æst aras a ladlich weder. Ibid., 7398. Þeo com heom a wedere wunderliche feire.

59 c. 1374.  Chaucer, Troylus, III. 657. Lord, this is an huge rayn! This were a weder for to slepen inne.

60 c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 12914. It made tho a lothely wedur, Hit raynes faste, thondres, & blowes.

61 1546.  Gassar’s Prognost., A viij b. Not long before the Sonne shall set, we may looke for a trobelous wether, & perchaunce snow.

62 1548.  Elyot’s Dict., Apricitas,… a fayre clere wether.

63 1618.  Rowlands, Sacred Mem., 25. Their storme was chang’d into a fayre calme weather.

64   e.  pl. Kinds of weather: sometimes equivalent to sing. Now rare exc. in phr. (in) all weathers.

65 Beowulf, 546. Wedera cealdost, nipende niht ond norþan wind, heaðogrim ondhwearf.

66 a. 900.  Andreas, 1256. Weder coledon heardum hæʓelscurum.

67 c. 1000.  Sax. Leechd., II. 244. Swa bið eac on wintra, for cyle & for þara wedra missenlicnesse, þæt se milte wyrð ʓelefed.

68 c. 1175.  Lamb. Hom., 13. Westmes þorð uuele wederas oft and ilome scal for-wurðan.

69 c. 1325.  Poem temp. Edw. II. (Percy), xxxv. Calel cometh and goth As wederis don in lyde.

70 1340.  Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1424. Sere variaunce, for certayn skille, Of þe tyms and wedirs and sesons.

71 c. 1350.  Will. Palerne, 5216. For wind & gode wederes hade þei at wille.

72 1377.  Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 349. For þorw werre and wykked werkes and wederes vnresonable Wederwise shipmen … Han no belieue to þe lifte ne to þe lore of philosofres.

73 c. 1449.  Pecock, Repr., II. ii. 146. God is such oon, that he nedith not to haue housis ouer him for to couere him fro reyne and fro othir sturne wedris.

74 a. 1450.  Le Morte Arth., 2470. Wederes had they feyre and good.

75 1526.  in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), I. 618. Dowble bandes of leade for defence of great wyndes and other outragious wethers.

76 1639.  J. Taylor (Water P.), Pt. Summers Trav., 44. Every Sunday, be it Winter or Summer, all manner of weathers.

77 1697.  T. Smith, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 247. I was forced … to go downe to Westminster … in all weathers.

78 1706.  E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 21. He’s … not so stiff as to carry Sail against all Weathers.

79 1717.  Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Abbé Conti, 17 May. It is covered on the top with boards to keep out the rain, that merchants may meet conveniently in all weathers.

80 1849.  C. Brontë, Shirley, xi. She took walks in all weathers—long walks in solitary directions.

81 1862.  H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, xix. It was impossible to pass round the promontory on horseback in the best of weathers; now doubly so.

82 1865.  Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. v. All weathers saw the man at the post.

83   fig.  1611.  Shaks., Wint. T., V. i. 195. Camillo ha’s betray’d me; Whose honor, and whose honestie till now, Endur’d all Weathers.

84   † f.  With implied favorable qualification: Weather suitable for some purpose. Obs.

85 c. 1375.  Sc. Leg. Saints, xxvii. (Machar), 1486. Þar-to weddire had þai þane, þat þai wane froyt of land & se thru his prayere in gret pleynte.

86 1393.  Langl., P. Pl., C. VII. 113. Bote ich hadde wedir at my wil ich wited god þe cause.

87 c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 3280. Thei … passed the see, when thei hadde wedur, To Thenedoun.

88 1469.  Plumpton Corr. (Camden), 21. Whether is so latesum in this cuntrey, that men can neither well gett corne nor hay.

89   g.  With unfavorable implication: Adverse, unpleasant, hurtful or destructive condition of the atmosphere; rain, frost, wind-driven waves, etc., as destructive agents. Stress of weather: see STRESS sb. 3.

90 a. 1122.  O. E. Chron. (Laud), an. 1097. He þohte his hired on Winceastre to healdenne, ac he wearð þurh weder ʓelet. Ibid., an. 1114. Ac wæder him lætte.

91 1340–70.  Alex. & Dind., 443. Swich housinge we han to holde out þe wedures.

92 c. 1400.  Sowdone Bab., 76. A drift of wedir vs droffe to Rome.

93 1425.  Paston Lett., Suppl. (1901), 5. Whether it wille chippe or chynne or affraye with frost or weder or water.

94 a. 1548.  Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 233 b. Which bridge was made and covered with bordes, onely to kepe of the wether.

95 1557.  Tusser, 100 Points Husb., xxxv. Thinges sowne, set or graft, in good memory haue: from beast, birde and weather to cherishe and saue.

96 1606.  G. W[oodcocke], Hist. Ivstine, II. 7. Before the vse of garments was found out against weathers iniury.

97 1616.  T. Scot, Philomythie, H 6 b. His [the weathercock’s] taile was too too weake, when euery feather Was bent with storms, and broken with the weather.

98 1638.  M. Casaubon, Use & Custom, 77. It hath beene observed of some free stones, that … if they bee laid in that proper posture, which they had naturally in their quarries, they grow very hard and durable against both time and weather.

99 1665.  in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 4. The stones … being of a soft … condition and not able to endure the sunn and weather.

100 1693.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 251. Chords, which should be well Pitched to preserve them from the Weather, and rotting.

101 1814.  Scott, Ld. of Isles, IV. xxii. Weather and war their rougher trace Have left on that majestic face.

102 1853.  Dickens, Bleak Ho., lvii. ‘Are you well wrapped up?’… I told him I cared for no weather, and was warmly clothed.

103 1872.  Shipley, Gloss. Eccl. Terms, s.v. Louvre Boards, Boards … to keep out the weather.

104   fig.  1663.  Charleton, Chorea Gigant., 18. An Invention … not so firmly founded, as to be impregnable; nor so closely compacted in all its parts, as to keep out all weather of Contradiction.

105   h.  Violent wind accompanied by heavy rain or agitation of the waves. Now dial. and Naut. † Also, a storm, tempest; often pleonastically, storm, tempest of weather(s. Obs.

106 c. 888.  Ælfred, Boeth., xxxviii. § 1. Ða ʓestod hine heah weder & stormsæ.

107 c. 1205.  Lay., 102. Mid wolcnen & mid wedere heo þoleden wensiðes.

108 c. 1250.  Gen. & Ex., 3055. Moyses, do ðis weder charen, And ȝu sal [ic] leten ut-faren.

109 a. 1300.  Cursor M., 6018. Þe seuend on-sand [sc. of the plagues of Egypt] Was a weder ful selcut snell.

110 13[?].  K. Alis., 5794 (Laud MS.). Þe wederes stronge & tempestes … hem duden grete molestes.

111 c. 1381.  Chaucer, Parl. Foules, v. 681. Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe, That hast this wintres weders over-shake.

112 1387–8.  T. Usk, Test. Love, I. iii. 63. And so by mokel duresse of weders and of stormes … I was driven to an yle.

113 c. 1400.  Maundev. (Roxb.), xxxii. 144. Þer es neuermare … nowþer thunner ne leuenyng, haile ne snawe, ne oþer tempestez of ill weders.

114 1402.  Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 44. To were us from wederes of wynteres stormes.

115 c. 1420.  Wyntoun, Cron., VII. x. 3278. And þar be a tempest fel Off gret wedderis scharpe and snel.

116 1450–1530.  Myrr. our Ladye, III. 303. There are gendered tempastes of weder and hayle.

117 1490.  Caxton, Eneydos, xxx. 114. Whan thenne they had ronne & saylled so moche that they were in the highe see a stronge weddre arose.

118 1523.  Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), I. cccxxiv. 506. This rayne and wether endured tyll the sonne rose.

119 1526.  Tindale, Heb. xii. 18. Ye are not come … to myst and darcknes and tempest of wedder [Gr. θυέλλη].

120 1531.  Test. Ebor. (Surtees), VI. 26. Tempestes of wedder or stormes.

121 1553.  T. Wilson, Rhet., 106 b. Diogenes beeyng vpon the Sea emong a number of naughtie packes in a greate storme of wether, when diuerse of these wicked felowes cried out for feare of drownyng, [etc.].

122 1598.  in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870), II. 27. [They] alegeit thai war impeidit be storme of wedder.

123 1703.  Dampier, Voy., III. I. 10. Upon these Signs Ships either get up their Anchors, or slip their Cables and put to Sea, and ply off and on till the Weather is over.

124 1718.  Hearne, Collect. (O.H.S.), VI. 212. The Master and the other Servant, running through the Weather towards the Houses, were both struck dead.

125 1894.  Hall Caine, Manxman, III. v. ‘Then don’t be late,’ said he, ‘there’s weather coming.’

126 1898.  Kipling, in Morn. Post, 11 Nov., 5/2. Wasn’t it a beautifully disciplined Mess, though? I wish you could see ’em at sea in weather.

127   † i.  What falls from the clouds; rain, snow, etc. Also in fig. context. Obs.

128 1382.  Wyclif, Deut. xxxii. 2. Flowe as dewe my speche, as wedre [Vulg. imber] vpon erbe. Ibid., Job xxiv. 8, Eccl. xi. 3, Isa. v. 6, Jer. xiv. 22.

129 c. 1400.  Rom. Rose, 4336. But er he it in sheves shere, May falle a weder that shal it dere.

130 c. 1475.  Rauf Coilȝear, 74. The wedderis ar sa fell, that fallis on the feild.

131 a. 1533.  Ld. Berners, Golden Bk. M. Aurel., xxxiv. (1535), 59. The labourer whan it reyneth not, couereth his house, thinkinge that an other tyme the wethers or raynes wyll fall theron and trouble hym.

132 1595.  Shaks., John, IV. ii. 109. A fearefull eye thou hast!… So foule a skie cleeres not without a storme: Poure downe thy weather! how goes all in France?

133 1825.  Jamieson, Weather, a fall of rain or snow accompanied with boisterous wind. Roxb. When the wind comes singly…, [people say] ‘It ’ill be no weather the day, but wind.’

134   † j.  In contexts relating to clouds or fog, the word sometimes assumes the sense of: Air, sky. Obs.

135 c. 1375.  Cursor M., 24414 (Fairf.). Þe wedder [earlier texts air, aier] be-gan to derkin & blake.

136 c. 1475.  Pict. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 801/1–4. Hic aier, Hec aera, Hic ether, Hec ethera, the wethyr.

137 a. 1500.  Coventry Corpus Chr. Plays, i. 209. These wedurs ar darke and dym of lyght.

138 1530.  Palsgr., 648/1. I overcast, as the weather dothe wan it is close or darke and lykely to rayne…. We shall have a rayne a none, the weather is sore overcaste sodaynly…. I overcast, as the cloudes do the weather.

139 c. 1605.  Drayton, Ballad Agincourt, 76. Arrowes … that like to serpents stoong, pearcing the Wether.

140   2.  Phrases.

141   † a.  The weather rains, thunders, etc. = ‘it rains,’ etc. Obs.

142 1390.  Gower, Conf., I. 140. The weder schal upon thee reine.

143 1590.  Sir J. Smythe, Disc. Weapons, 19 b. If in the tyme of anie battle … the weather doth happen to raine, haile, or snow.

144 1634.  Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 24. The weather thundring and storming exceedingly.

145   † b.  To make (rarely bear) fair weather: to be conciliatory, make a show of friendliness (to or with a person); also, to make a specious show of goodness, etc. To make fair weather of (a state of things): to gloss over, represent as better than it is. Obs.

146 c. 1400.  Laud Troy Bk., 8289. At here comyng thei made fair wedur, And spak of many thyoges to-gedur.

147 1537.  Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), II. 93. Thother parte declare him in wordes towards his Maieste to make only faire wether, and in his harte … to doo all that he canne to his graces dishonour.

148 1547.  Cheke, in Harington, Nugæ Ant. (1804), I. 20. And if anye suche shall be, that shall of all things make fair weather, and, whatsoever they shall see to the contrarye, shall tell you all is well.

149 1560.  Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 369 b. Duke Moris … to make fayre weather [L. pacificationis causa] sendeth his ambassadors to the Counsell.

150 1583.  Golding, Calvin on Deut., cxix. 732. And that is the cause why wee see so fewe holde out in weldoing. Many make faire wether for a time, so as yee woulde thinke them to bee maruellous good men: but in the turning of a hande all is marde.

151 1589.  R. Payne, Brief Descr. Irel., 7. Al the better sort doe deadly hate ye Spaniardes, & yet I thinke they beare them fayre weather, for that they are the popes champions.

152 1593.  Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., V. i. 30. But I must make faire weather yet a while, Till Henry be more weake, and I more strong.

153 1596.  Edw. III., I. ii. 23. Returne and say, That we with England will not enter parlie, Nor neuer make faire wether, or take truce.

154 1598.  Marston, Pygmal., Sat., i. 31. Ixion makes faire weather vnto Ioue.

155 1622.  Bacon, Hen. VII., 49. To which message, although the French King gaue no full credit, yet he made faire weather with the King, and seemed satisfied.

156 1673.  Kirkman, Unlucky Cit., 163. My Mother-in-law made very fair weather to me, and gave me many good words.

157   c.  Naut. Of a ship, to make good, bad, etc., weather of it: to behave well or ill in a storm.

158 1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. ii. 17. We make foul weather.

159 1781.  Naval Chron., XI. 287. The Ship makes a very good weather of it.

160 1860.  Merc. Marine Mag., VII. 86. The ship making very bad weather and shipping large quantities of water.

161 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Make bad weather, To. A ship rolling, pitching, or leaking violently in a gale.

162 1881.  Daily Tel., 28 Jan. The sea was … not so heavy but that in my judgment a twenty-ton yacht would have made excellent weather of it.

163   fig.  1915.  ‘Ian Hay,’ 1st Hund. Thou., I. xiii. § 2. The feckless and muddle-headed, making heavy weather of the simplest tasks.

164   d.  In the weather: in an exposed situation, unprotected from rain, cold and wind; in the open air (usually with implication of severe weather). Similarly to go into, through the weather.

165 a. 1513.  Fabyan, Chron., V. lxxxiii. (1516), 32. The kynges Herdemen passyd by, And seynge this Bysshop with his company syttyng in the weder, desyred hym to his howse to take there such poore lodgynge as he had.

166 1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., II. 102. The Tree roots best, that in the Weather stands.

167 1693.  Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 241. The out side of Buildings that lies in the Weather.

168 1842.  Dickens, Amer. Notes, ii. The captain … turns up his coat collar … and goes laughing out into the weather as merrily as to a birthday party.

169 1865.  Mrs. H. Wood, Mildred Arkell, xlvi. They started together through the weather to the house of William Arkell.

170 1880.  Howells, Undisc. Country, xiii. 190. Her longing to be in the weather (after an illness).

171   † e.  Down the weather: in adversity. To go down the weather: to become bankrupt. Obs.

172 1611.  Cotgr., s.v. Aller, Aller au saffran, to fall to decay, to grow bankrupt in estate, to goe down the weather.

173 1641.  J. Shute, Sarah & Hagar (1649), 63. We see how Job was despised when he was down the weather, yea even by those, whom, when he prospered, he would scarce have set with the dogs of his flock.

174   f.  Under the weather (orig. U.S.): indisposed, not quite well.

175 1850.  D. G. Mitchell, Lorgnette (1852), I. 50. As for the Frenchman, though now, between the valorous Poussin and the long-faced Bonaparte, a little under the weather [etc.].

176 1882.  Miss Braddon, Mt. Royal, II. iv. 59. ‘What, old lady, are you under the weather?’ he asked, turning to survey his mother with a critical air.

177 1887.  F. R. Stockton, Borrowed Month, 68. They had been very well as a general thing, although now and then they might have been under the weather for a day or two.

178   g.  Weather permitting: often appended to an announcement (e.g., of the sailing of a vessel) to indicate that it is conditional on the weather being favorable.

179 1712.  Lond. Gaz., No. 4953/4. The Edgley Gally will be ready to Sail…, Wind and Weather permitting.

180 1842.  Dickens, Amer. Notes, i. There was a beautiful port-hole which could be kept open all day (weather permitting).

181 1895.  Black’s Guide Devon. (ed. 15), 168. The steamers from Portishead to Ilfracombe call, going and returning, off Lynton, weather permitting.

182   h.  Clerk of the weather: see CLERK sb. 6 c.

183 1835.  C. F. Hoffman, Winter in West, I. 38. I could not, if I had made my own private arrangements with the clerk of the weather, have fixed it upon the whole more to my satisfaction.

184   i.  To stretch wing to weather: to fly.

185 1825.  Scott, Betrothed, xxiii. If they be not carefully trained I would rather have a gosshawk on my perch than the fairest falcon that ever stretched wing to weather.

186   3.  Naut. The direction in which the wind is blowing. ‘Applied to anything lying to windward of a particular situation’ (Adm. Smyth). In various phrases: To luff nigh the weather: to sail near the wind; in quot. fig. To drive with the weather: to drift with the wind and waves. To have the weather of: to be to windward of (another ship); similarly in, into, on, to, upon (the) weather of. Also, in, into the weather; up to weather: to windward. Cf. A-WEATHER.

187 1390.  Gower, Conf., II. 370. Or elles thei take ate leste Out of hir hand or ring or glove, So nyh the weder thei wol love.

188 1526.  Tindale, Acts xxvii. 15. We lett her goo, and drave with the wedder [ἑφερόμεθα].

189 1557.  Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 113. Wee had sight of three sailes of shippes … which were in the weather of vs. Ibid. When we met, they had the weather of vs.

190 1565[?].  J. Sparke, Ibid., 524. His pinnesse … being in the weather of him.

191 1588.  in St. Papers Defeat Sp. Armada (Navy Rec. Soc., 1894), II. 107. After this we cast about our ship, and kept ourselves close by the Spaniard until midnight, sometime hearing a voice in Spanish calling us; but the wind being very great and we in the weather, the voice was carried away.

192 c. 1595.  Capt. Wyatt, R. Dudley’s Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.), 18. [Hee] gave commaundement that the carvell shoulde plie up into the weather. Ibid. The French admerall, who laie aloofe of some six leagues to weather.

193 1692.  J. Smith’s Sea-mans Gram., I. xvi. 78. Weather Gage, is when one Ship has the Wind (or is to weather) of another.

194 1842.  Browning, Waring, iii. 12. Then the boat … from the lee, Into the weather, cut somehow Her sparkling path beneath our bow.

195 1868.  Field, 25 July, 83/2. The Mabella [yacht] too, was much closer on her weather than was pleasant.

196 1903.  Times, 21 Aug., 4/3. Reliance, though astern, was well up to weather. Ibid. Reliance by now had unmistakably got upon the challenger’s weather.

197   4.  The angle that the sails of a windmill make with the perpendicular to the axis. More fully, angle of weather.

198 1759.  Smeaton, in Phil. Trans., LI. 141, note. The angle of the sails is accounted from the plain of their motion; that is, when they stand at right angles to the axis, their angle is denoted 0°, this notation being agreeable to the language of practitioners, who call the angle so denoted, the weather of the sail.

199 1825.  J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 138. In the mill-wright’s terms, the greatest angle of weather was 30 degrees, and the least varied from 12 to 6 degrees, as the inclination of the windshaft varied from 8 to 15 degrees.

200   5.  = WEATHERING vbl. sb. 3. rare.

201 1894.  A. M. Bell, in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst., XXIII. 272. Beyond doubt they [two flints] were chipped at the same time … yet one is weathered, and the other is unaltered. So from an isolated example of weather I am in no haste to draw a conclusion. Ibid., 273. So also with surface finds; if they possess definite characteristics of form, of wear, of weather,… then these are certainly local accidents.

202   II.  attrib. and Comb.

203   6.  a. Simple attrib., as weather-cast, -change, -chart, forecast, -lore, -map, -mark, -report, -wear, † -wrack.

204 1866.  A. Steinmetz, Weathercasts, 142, chapter title. *Weathercasts by the Barometer.

205 1878.  R. Strachan, in Mod. Meteorology (1879), 84. A system of storm-warnings and weather-casts.

206 1876.  Geo. Eliot, Deronda, lii. Something as dim as the sense of approaching *weather-change.

207 1901.  Westm. Gaz., 26 Oct., 5/2. The *weather-chart … showed that there were several small atmospheric disturbances in the neighbourhood of the British Isles.

208 1883.  Encycl. Brit., XVI. 158/1. *Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings.

209 1875.  Chamb. Jrnl., 2 Jan., 7/2. We shall thereby add every year to our *weather-lore of the various oceans and seas.

210 1883.  Encycl. Brit., XVI. 157/1. The International Monthly *Weather Maps issued by the United States Signal Service.

211 1693.  Humours Town, 15. Bringing Old Age and *Weather marks on you before you have run half your Course.

212 1824.  Mactaggart, Gallovid. Encycl., 191. Owre moor and dale for mony a year, May Davie’s famous dykes appear, Ne’er bilged out wi’ *wather-wear, But just the same.

213 1875.  Brash, Eccl. Archit. Irel., 96/1. In truth, I have seldom seen a better executed piece of masonry, despite the weather-wear of over seven hundred years.

214 a. 1616.  Beaum. & Fl., Wit at Sev. Weapons, II. i. Well, well, you have built a nest That will stand all stormes, you need not mistrust A *weather-wrack.

215   b.  objective, as † weather-wielder; weather-braving, -withstanding ppl. adjs.

216 c. 1611.  Chapman, Iliad, VII. 3. As the weather-wielder sends, to Sea-men prosperous gales.

217 1800.  Hurdis, Fav. Village, 4. How long upon the hill has stood Thy weather-braving tower.

218 1818.  Scott, Hrt. Midl., xliii. Those prudent and resolved and weather-withstanding professors, wha hae kend what it was to lurk … in bogs and in caverns.

219   c.  instrumental, as weather-bleached, -blown, -borne, -bronzed, -eaten, -hardened, -scarred, -stayed, -tanned, -tinted, † -waft, -wasted, -worn ppl. adjs. Also WEATHER-BEATEN, etc.

220 1784.  Cowper, Task, V. 834. His country’s *weather-bleach’d and batter’d rocks.

221 c. 1611.  Chapman, Iliad, II. 532. Strong Enispe, that for height, is euer *weather-blowne.

222 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-borne, pressed by wind and sea.

223 1837.  W. Irving, Capt. Bonneville, I. xv. 251. Their … *weather-bronzed complexions.

224 1814.  Coleridge, Lett. (1895), 640. [A Janus face] all *weather eaten.

225 1834.  Southey, Doctor, ix. I. 111. A countenance which, *weather-hardened as it was, might have given the painter a model for a Patriarch.

226 1876.  Miss Broughton, Joan, I. I. i. 5. Flashes of scarlet warmed up the cold and sunless colours of the *weather-scarred gray walls.

227 1854.  Mrs. C. L. Balfour, Working Women (1868), 395. Whenever he had a guest belated or *weather-staid in that lonely region.

228 1853.  Dickens, Bleak Ho., lii. A *weather-tanned … woman with a basket.

229 1814.  Scott, Wav., v. (verses). The *weather-tinted rock and tower.

230 1647.  Ward, Simple Cobler, 20. Men…, that are *weather-waft up and down with every eddy-wind of every new doctrine.

231 1822.  Scott, Pirate, xix. These haggard and *weather-wasted features.

232 1609.  Healey, Discov. New World, I. v. 13. We beheld a tombe, which as far as I could guesse by the *weather-worne inscription conteined the bones of the Romane Apicius.

233 1827.  Carlyle, Germ. Lit., Misc. 1857, I. 48. The weather-worn sculptures of the Parthenon.

234 1862.  Ansted, Channel Isl., I. i. (ed. 2), 8. Sark, somewhat the loftiest of the islands, is also the most weather-worn.

235   d.  with adjectives expressing imperviousness or power of resistance (to the weather), as weather-free, -tight, -tough. Also WEATHER-PROOF.

236 1648.  G. Daniel, Eclog, ii. 6. Lambs, sooner wise then wee, Have got the Hedge, and now stand Weather-free.

237 1819.  Byron, Juan, II. xi. The dashing spray Flies in one’s face, and makes it weather-tough.

238 1832.  Ht. Martineau, Ella of Gar., i. 10. If your honour would order the place down below to be made weather-tight for us.

239 1855.  Poultry Chron., III. 388/1. Place a hen, with her brood, under a good weather-tight coop, with the bars in front just so far apart that she cannot get out, and we may reckon that they are established in life.

240 1902.  A. Austin, Haunts Anc. Peace, 20. The cottages stood well back from highway or lane, looked solid, sturdy, and weather-tight, though of vague antiquity.

241   7.  Special comb.: † weather-basket, a wickerwork screen or covering to protect a plant; weather-box = weather-house; weather-brained a. = WEATHER-HEADED; † weather-caster, a weather-prophet; weather-cloth Naut., a covering of canvas or tarpaulin used to protect boats, hammocks, etc., or to shelter persons from wind and spray; weather-cord, a cord used as a hygrometer; weather-cottage = weather-house; weather-deck, an upper deck exposed to the weather [cf. G. wetterdeck]; weather-dog dial. [DOG sb. 10] = WEATHER-GALL; weather-door (a) a louver-hole in a church steeple (cf. LOUVER 4, quot. 1858); (b) Mining (see quot.); † weather-fan, a punkah; weather-fane = FANE sb.1 2; weather-fence v. trans. = WEATHER-FEND; weather-fish = thunder-fish b (s.v. THUNDER sb. 6); † weather-flag, a vane; weather-gleam, -glim Sc. and north. dial., clear sky near a dark horizon; also, the horizon; weather-god, a god who presides over the weather; weather-guard v. trans., to guard against bad weather; weather-head dial., a secondary rainbow; weather-hen jocular, a female weathercock; an inconstant woman; weather-house, a toy hygroscope in the form of a small house with figures of a man and woman standing in two porches; by the varying torsion of a string the man comes out of his porch in wet weather and the woman out of hers in dry; weather-line, the surface of an embedded timber just above the ground; weather-maker, a weather-prophet; also weather-making vbl. sb.; † weather-man, one who observes the weather; † weather-monger, a weather-prophet; weather-moulding Arch., a drip-stone; † weather-plate, a plate marked with a scale for indicating the height of the mercury in a barometer; weather-prophet, one who foretells the weather; one who is weather-wise; also fig.; † weather-rope (see quot.); weather-sharp U.S. colloq., a weather-prophet; an official meteorologist (Cent. Dict., Suppl., 1909); weather-sick a., sick of, suffering from, the weather; weather-sign, a phenomenon that indicates change of weather; also fig.; † weather-skirt U.S. = SAFEGUARD sb. 8; weather-slated, -slating (cf. weather-tiled, -tiling); † weather-spar = WEATHERBOARD 2; † weather-spy, a weather-prophet; † weather-stone, a kind of stone classed according to its imperviousness to weather; weather-strip, a strip of wood or rubber applied to a crevice in order to exclude rain and cold (Webster, 1864); hence as vb. trans., to apply a weather-strip to (Cent. Dict., 1891); weather-table Arch. = WATER TABLE 1 b; weather-tile, a kind of tile used instead of weatherboard to cover a wall; weather-tiled ppl. a., covered with overlapping tiles; weather-tiling vbl. sb., the process or result of covering a wall with tiles; weather-tree, the white poplar, Populus alba; weather-vane = VANE 1; also fig.; weather-wall, a wall serving as a shield from the weather; weather-warning (see quot.); weather-wiseacre nonce-wd., one who professes to be weather-wise; † weather-wizard, a weather-prophet; † weather-works, devices to protect a ship from rough weather.

242 1699.  Meager, New Art Garden., 28. When they are Grafted they must be fenced, either with a *weather-basket, or some earthen Vessel.

243 1848.  Thackeray, Van. Fair, x. The elder and younger son of the house of Crawley were, like the gentleman and lady in the *weather-box, never at home together.

244 1826.  Scott, Woodst., vii. But art thou not an inconsiderate *weather-brained fellow, to set forth as thou wert about to do, without any thing to bear thy charges…?

245 1854.  H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., i. (1858), 10. There was a weather-brained tailor in the neighbourhood, who used to do very odd things, especially, it was said, when the moon was at the full.

246 1607.  Dekker, Knt.’s Conjur. (1842), 9. The storme beeing at rest, what buying vp of almanacks was there to see if the *weather-casters had playd the doctors to a haire.

247 1856.  Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xxiv. 315. A sort of *weather-cloth, which … would certainly make her more comfortable in heavy weather.

248 1897.  Outing, XXIX. 547/1. A coil of rope for head-rest, a discarded sail for *weather cloth.

249 1746.  Phil. Trans., XLIV. 169. The *Weather-Cord is an Hygrometer of a very ancient Invention.

250 1906.  E. V. Lucas, Wanderer in Lond., 170. One of the old *weather-cottages, with a little man and a little woman to swing in and out and foretell rain and shine.

251 1850.  Rep. Committee, in G. Moorsom, Admeas. Tonnage (1853), 167. The Depth in Midships from the Underside of the *Weather Deck to the Ceiling at the Limber Strake.

252 1904.  Attwood, War-ships, 46. Wood is now only used for weather decks [etc.].

253 1908.  Paasch, From Keel to Truck (ed. 4), 75. Weather-deck. Term given to an upper-deck on account of its exposure to the sun, rain and wind.

254 1758.  Borlase, Nat. Hist. Cornw., 17. There appeared in the North-East the frustum of a large rainbow…. They call it here in Cornwall a *weather dog,… and pronounce it a certain sign of hard rain.

255 1865.  R. Hunt, Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1881), 434. ‘Weather dogs’ … are regarded as certain prognostications of showery or stormy weather.

256 1753.  F. Price, Observ. Cathedral-Ch. Salisbury, 40. The upper part of the Spire … just below the *weather Door.

257 1881.  Raymond, Mining Gloss., Weather-door, a door in a level to regulate the ventilating current.

258 1611.  Cotgr., Poille,… also, an Vmbrello, or great *weather-fanne.

259 1773.  Phil. Trans., LXIV. 140. The *weather-fane which terminates the conductor.

260 a. 1850.  W. L. Bowles, Poems, Sylph of Summer, 466. Yon eastern downs, That *weather-fence the blossoms of the vale.

261 1886.  H. G. Seeley, Freshw. Fishes Europe, 248. In Germany and Austria it [Misgurnus fossilis] is regarded as a weather prophet, and sometimes is called the *Weather-fish, because it usually comes to the surface about twenty-four hours before bad weather, and moves about with unusual energy.

262 1611.  Cotgr., Girouette, a fane, or *weather-flag.

263 1802.  Sibbald, Chron. S. P., Gloss., *Weddir-glim, clear sky, near the horizon; spoken of objects seen in the twilight or dusk; as ‘between him and the wedder-glim.’

264 1817.  Blackw. Mag., Oct., 84/1. While … the weather-gleam of the eastern hills began to be tinged with the brightening dawn.

265 1819.  W. Tennant, Papistry Storm’d (1827), 185. Nae cloud owr-head the lift did dim, But i’ the wastern weddir-glim A black up-castin’.

266 1905.  E. Clodd, Animism, § 11. 58. Indra, the old Vedic *weather-god, has been completely elbowed out as an object of worship by special rain-gods.

267 1885.  Buck’s Handbk. Med. Sci., I. 338/2. The pioneers attend to this work, trenching the ground, *weather-guarding the shelters.

268 a. 1825.  Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, *Weather-head, the secondary rainbow.

269 1904.  Edith Rickert, Reaper, 318. The old folk watched for weatherheads and talked of storms.

270 1632.  Heywood, 2nd Pt. Iron Age, I. i. C 2. And now faire Troian *Weather-hen adew, And when thou next louest, thinke to be more true.

271 1899.  B. Thomas & Granv. Barker (title), The Weather-Hen.

272 1726.  Post-Man, 1–3 Sept., 2/2, Advt. The Gentlemen, Ladies and Farmers famous new invented *Weather Houses.

273 1784.  Cowper, Task, I. 211. Peace to the artist, whose ingenious thought Devis’d the weather-house, that useful toy!

274 1800.  Lathom, Dash of Day, I. i. He is always in bed when I am up, and I am always at rest, when he is stirring; our movements put me in mind of the man and woman in the Dutch weather-house.

275 1915.  ‘Q’ (Quiller-Couch), Nicky-Nan, xiii. 156. A man has no business to stand grimacing in his own doorway … like a figure in a weather-house.

276 1830.  R. Mudie, Pop. Guide Observ. Nature, 302. As little was the injury done at the *‘weather-line,’ just by the surface of the earth, where the durability of timber is put to the severest test.

277 1888.  E[mily] Gerard, Land beyond Forest, II. xxviii. 30, note. Instances of *weather-makers are also common in Germany.

278 1891.  Pall Mall Gaz., 13 Oct., 7/2. A weather-maker for an almanack got into conversation with a shepherd.

279 1883.  Stallybrass, trans. Grimm’s Teut. Mythol., III. 1152. The gift of prophecy and the art of *weather-making.

280 1545.  Ascham, Toxoph., II. (Arb.), 152. Therefore in shootynge there is as muche difference betwixt an archer that is a good *wether man, and an other that knoweth and marketh nothynge, as is betwixte a blynde man and he that can se.

281 1656.  2nd Ed. New Almanack, 3. If the *weather-mongers rule hold true.

282 1841.  Few Words to Churchwardens, I. (Camb. Camden Soc.), 10. You may see what is called the *weather-moulding of the old roof remaining.

283 a. 1878.  Sir G. Scott, Lect. Archit., I. 165. A hollow projecting moulding containing the foliage, capped by a weather moulding.

284 1698.  Derhan, in Phil. Trans., XX. 4. The *Weather-plates are to be put upon the Frame [of a portable barometer], by setting them to the same height, at which the Mercury stands in a common Barometer.

285 1866.  A. Steinmetz, Weathercasts, 7. The most successful *weather-prophet of modern times, if not of all times, the late lamented Admiral Fitzroy.

286 1884.  S. E. Dawson, Handbk. Dom. Canada, 4. The metaphors of political weather-prophets.

287 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-ropes, an early term for those which were tarred.

288 1884.  Graphic, 13 Dec., 610/3. The New York *‘weathersharps,’ who have to their westward some three thousand miles of land studded with signal stations.

289 1757.  Dyer, in J. Duncombe, Lett. (1773), III. 62. I think I never was so *weather-sick; the deep snows forbid me air and exercise.

290 1892.  Meredith, Ode to Comic Spirit, Poems 1898, II. 222. A statue losing feature, weather-sick.

291 1856.  Mrs. Browning, Aur. Leigh, II. 691. I can tell The *weather-signs of love: you love this man.

292 1915.  W. Sichel, in 19th Cent., Jan., 190. His prophecies [about India] are perpetual, and he read the weather-signs at a glance.

293 1903.  Alice M. Earle, Two Cent. Costume Amer., II. 617. Another name for a safeguard was a *weather-skirt.

294 1870.  Lond. Society, Sept., 266. A … house, *weather-slated from top to bottom.

295 1859.  Jephson, Brittany, xvi. 269. Buildings of lath and plaster, covered on the most exposed parts with *weather-slating.

296 1632–3.  in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), II. 698. The Windowes in ye Roofe, to be of good Oake Timber, with *Wether sparrs handsomely wrought.

297 c. 1595.  Donne, Sat., i. 59. And sooner may a gulling *weather Spie By drawing forth heavens Scheme tell certainly [etc.].

298 1686.  Plot, Staffordsh., 168. It being all of it good *weather-stone, but not enduring the fire.

299 1839.  Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., II. 361/2. A weather fillet, or *weather table, which projects half an inch from the general face of the window.

300 1906.  Antiquary, Jan., 7/2. A weather-table on the north wall.

301 1875.  Knight, Dict. Mech., 2568/2. Siding-tiles are sometimes called *weather-tiles.

302 1887.  Hissey, Holiday on Road, 230. A somewhat quaint little inn, having a *weather-tiled upper story.

303 1904.  A. C. Benson, House of Quiet, iv. One wing is weather-tiled.

304 1703.  [R. Neve], City & C. Purchaser, 286. *Weather-tyling … Is the Tyling, (or Covering with Tyles) the upright Sides of Houses.

305 1833.  Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 438. The weather-boarding may be covered with what is called weather-tiling.

306 1847.  C. A. Johns, Forest Trees, I. 357, note. I think there will be rain,… for the *weather tree is shewing its white lining.

307 1721.  Bailey, *Weather-vane.

308 1866.  Le Fanu, All in Dark, x. The pointed gables, with stone cornices and glittering weather-vane on the summit.

309 1896.  Tablet, 1 Feb., 167. The Pall Mall Gazette even prefers to regard him as a Royal weather-vane.

310 1838.  Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 235/1. A *weather wall in the centre will run the whole length [of the pier].

311 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-warning, the telegraphic cautionary warning given by hoisting the storm-drum on receiving the forecast.

312 1807.  W. Irving, Salmagundi (1824), 122. This is the universal remark among the … *weather-wiseacres of the day.

313 1596.  Nashe, Saffron Walden, Ep. Ded. B 3 b. False Prophets, *Weather-wizards, Fortune-tellers.

314 1652.  Gaule, Magastrom., 23. Weather-wizzards, planet-prognosticators, and fortune-spellers!

315 1776.  Cook, 3rd Voy., I. iii. (1784), I. 34. The caulkers were set to work … to caulk the decks and inside *weather-works of the ship.

316   8.  Naut. Used attrib. or as adj. with the sense: Situated on the side that is turned towards the wind; having a direction towards the wind; windward; opposed to lee, leeward adjs.; as weather-anchor, -beam (BEAM sb.1 17), -bowline, -brace, -division, -earing, -gangway, -gun, -leech, -lift, -lurch, -port, -quarter, -rail, -roll, -sheet, -shore, -shrowd, -spoke, -tack, -tide, -topping-lift, -wheel; weather-bow, the bow that is turned towards the wind; hence as v. trans., to turn the weather-bow to; weather-gage, -gauge (see GAUGE sb. 5); hence as v. trans., to keep the weather-gage of; weather-helm, a tendency in a ship under sail to come too near the wind, requiring the tiller to be kept constantly a little to windward. Also (to the) weatherward adv.

317 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-anchor, that lying to windward, by which a ship rides when moored.

318 1790.  Beatson, Nav. & Mil. Mem., II. 140. Two sail … gave us chase and … kept on our *weather-beams till morning.

319 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Weather-beam, a direction at right angles with the keel, on the weather side of the ship.

320 1626.  Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 18. On the *weather bow.

321 1851.  H. Melville, Whale, xvi. 80. Take a peep over the weather-bow … and tell me what ye see there.

322 1840.  R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxxvi. We made but little by *weather-bowing the tide.

323 1669.  Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 18. Set in the Lee-Braces, and hawl forward by the *Weather Bowlines. Ibid., 17. Let go the … Lee-Braces;… set in your *Weather Braces.

324 1762–9.  Falconer, Shipwr., ii. 308. The sheet and weather-brace they now stand by.

325 1836.  Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xxv[i]. ‘A small pull of that weather main-top gallant brace—that will do,’ said the master.

326 1920.  J. H. Rose, in Discovery, Nov., 329/2. Nelson had intended his *weather division to be in line ahead.

327 1840.  R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, iv. The first [sailor] on the yard goes to the *weather earing, the second to the lee, and the next two to the ‘dog’s ears.’

328 1834.  Marryat, P. Simple, xiii. Walk this boy up and down the *weather gangway.

329 1892.  Field, 2 July, 30/3. Daffodil … was sufficiently far to windward to *weather-gauge her.

330 1759.  Ann. Reg., 120. We … run our *weather-guns out.

331 1691.  T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 126. *Weather, or Leeward Helm … may be fitted to promote or hinder the Sailing upon occasion.

332 1882.  Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 190. A screw ship carries more weather helm than a sailing ship.

333 1836.  Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xxv[i]. The Aurora dashed through at the rate of eight miles an hour, with her *weather leeches lifting.

334 1899.  F. T. Bullen, Log Sea-waif, 279. The weather-leech of the lower stun’sails began to flap.

335 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-lurch, a heavy roll to windward.

336 1809.  Sporting Mag., XXXIII. 127. A great sea poured through one of the *weather-ports.

337 1626.  Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 19. Boord him on his *weather quarter.

338 1743.  Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 9. The Commodore being on the Weather-Quarter, bore down under our Lee, and spoke with us.

339 1834.  M. Scott, Cruise of Midge, i. (1836), 16. The felucca was now within long pistol-shot of our weather-quarter.

340 1888.  E. J. Mather, Nor’ard of Dogger (1922), 295. We had to hang on to the *weather-rail, the seas rolling along like mountains.

341 1815.  Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Rolls, those inclinations which a ship makes to windward in a heavy sea.

342 a. 1625.  Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict. (1644), 76. If the *weather-sheate be as farre as the Bulkhead.

343 1851.  H. Melville, Whale, xiii. 67. The tremendous strain upon the main-sheet had parted the weather-sheet.

344 1626.  Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 30. Come to an Anchor vnder the Ley of the *weather shore.

345 1697.  J. Puckle, New Dial., 16. A North-West Wind … makes Holland a Lee and England a Weather Shore.

346 a. 1625.  Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict. (1644), 32. Then cutting the *weather shrowdes, the mast will instantly and without danger fall over boord.

347 1849.  Cupples, Green Hand, vi. (1856), 59. I looked to the wheel … as he coolly gave her half a *weather-spoke more.

348 1883.  Man. Seamanship Boys, 56. Haul on the *weather-tack and lee-sheet.

349 1815.  Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Tide, denotes that which, by setting against a ship’s lee-side, while under sail, forces her up to windward.

350 1883.  Man. Seamanship Boys, 163. The fiddle-block is hooked to the *weather-topping lift.

351 1557.  Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 127. At night the Minion, and the pinnesse came vp to vs, but could not fetch so farre to the *weatherward as we, and therefore they ankered about a league a wether the castle.

352 1600.  (25 Dec.) Adm. Ct. Exam., 34 (P. R. O.). [A ship] to the weatherward about a league.

353 1904.  Dowden, R. Browning, 73. In the sunset splendour the boat veers weather-ward.

354 1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-wheel, the position of the man who steers a large ship, from his standing on the weather-side of the wheel.

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