ship a sea

English

Verb

ship a sea (third-person singular simple present ships a sea, present participle shipping a sea, simple past and past participle shipped a sea)

1. (intransitive, nautical) To have a large wave wash over one's vessel.
   • 1724, [Daniel Defoe], “Letter V”, in The Great Law of Subordination Consider’d; or, The Insolence and Unsufferable Behaviour of Servants in England Duly Enquir’d into. […], London: Sold by S. Harding, […], →OCLC, page 134:

     […] VVaterman, ſays I, vvhat are you doing? vvhat did you ſhip a Sea? ay, ſays the VVaterman, and a great one too; vvhy it blovvs a Frett of VVind; […]

   • 1774, David Henry, “The Voyages of Captain Cooke”, in An Historical Account of All the Voyages Round the World, Performed by English Navigators‎, volume 2, London: F. Newbery, page 19:

     Thus we scudded before the wind […] and at nine shipped a sea in the poop, as we in the cabbin were going to supper.

   • 1838, [Edgar Allan Poe], chapter VIII, in The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 81:

     At almost every roll to leeward she shipped a sea, several of which came partially down into the cabin during our scuffle, the hatchway having been left open by myself when I descended.

   • 1881–1882, Robert Louis Stevenson, chapter XXIV, in Treasure Island, London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 14 November 1883, →OCLC, part V (My Sea Adventure), page 196:

     Once I shipped a sea so heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like a bird […]