Wordinistas! Check out A Way With Words, public radio's call-in show about language.
Dictionary definition of “seat of ease”

seat of ease

n. aboard a ship, a board overhanging water for defecation or urination; a toilet. Subjects:
Comments? | Cites | Permalink | Tell a Friend
Citations: 1869 Richard W. Meade A Treatise on Naval Architecture and Ship-Building (Philadelphia, Pa.) 2 ed., p. 467: False Rail.—A rail fayed down upon the upper side of the main or upper rail of the head. It is to strengthen the head-rail, and forms the seat of ease at the after end next the bow. 1992 Patrick O'Brian The Truelove (May 1) p. 16 @ (July 1, 1993): Taking medicine meant swallowing improbable quantities of calomel, suphur, Turkey rhubarb (often added to their own surgeon’s prescription) and spending the whole of the next day on the seat of ease, gasping, straining, sweating, ruining their lower alimentary tract. 2005 Patricia Smith Daily News (Jacksonville, N.C.) (May 23) “QAR dive produces interesting artifacts”: It’s a pissdale; it’s essentially a urinal.…Basically it’s just a tapered lead tube that leads from the “seat of ease” as they called it out into the water.
Posted 5 Aug 05 | Permalink | Tell a Friend

Leave a comment (must be approved by the moderator before it will appear).

Name (mandatory):

Email (mandatory):

Location (optional):

Your Web Site (optional):

Remember my personal information

Notify me, by email, of follow-up comments.

Recent Catchwords
nightstand Buddhist n. (5/9)
brown gas n. (5/9)
rewilding n. (5/9)
hardening off n. (5/9)
car-fu n. (5/9)
bump up suit n. (5/9)
cat-claw n. (5/8)
crabs in a bucket other. (5/8)
poofer n. (5/8)
peopletician n. (5/8)
sandbox sailor n. (5/7)
combat shower n. (5/7)
sushi index n. (5/7)
lake lettuce n. (5/7)
ghost in v. phr. (5/7)
head out v. phr. (5/7)
sang n. (5/7)
zebra striping n. (5/7)
filler n. (5/6)
winter soldier n. (5/6)
 More catchwords...
Sponsored links:
Car Reviews
Used Cars
Lexicographer's Rules
How to buy a dictionary (4/29)
Jinx and padiddle: games we play (4/16)
Saying it wrong on purpose (4/1)
Nicknames from the Underground: Busharraf, Chillary, and Killadelphia (3/19)
New slang unpacked (3/4)
UPDATED: Crosswords in Black and White (3/3)
Find me in American Way Magazine (3/3)
Recent catchwords: read-alike, violin hickey, throw a Porsche at someone, Q-tip cruise, 1-800 car (2/28)
The Tell-All of the Century: Snitching Slang (2/19)
Fog line, instant ancestor, trashout (2/12)
 More blog entries...
Find A Word  »
 A   B   C   D   E 
 F   G   H   I   J 
 K   L   M   N   O 
 P   Q   R   S   T 
 U   V   W   X   Y 
 Z   0-9 
Search
Search Site

Google Site Search
New Comments
Jan commented on tom-walkers (5/11)
Jak King commented on nightstand Buddhist (5/11)
Karl Benghauser commented on jingle mail (5/10)
Thomas commented on cat-claw (5/10)
Richard William Walker commented on cat-claw (5/10)
chris commented on bootleg (5/9)
Tama commented on jitterbug (5/9)
Grant Barrett commented on cat-claw (5/9)
Thomas commented on cat-claw (5/9)
Thomas commented on cat-claw (5/9)
Kimo lanikai commented on Hawaiian peace sign (5/8)
Julie Dobkin commented on who laid the rail (5/7)
Dale fawthrop commented on blute (5/6)
JoJo commented on bag nasty (5/6)
SCohen commented on throw (someone) under the bus (5/6)
Subscribe to the RSS feed. • Subscribe to the mailing list. • Browse the archive. • Add to Technorati Favorites. • © 1999-2008 by Grant Barrett, Double-Tongued Dictionary, New York City.