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lubber line

 
Dictionary: lubber line  lub·ber's line (lŭb'ərz) pronunciation
also n.
A line or mark on a mariner's compass or cathode-ray indicator that represents the heading of a ship or aircraft.


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Boating Encyclopedia: Lubber Line
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A small vertical line that indicates the boat’s heading
On a magnetic compass or a radar scope, the boat’s heading is indicated by a vertical line known as the lubber line. Many yacht compasses have two lubber lines, one at the forward end of the bowl and the other at the after end, but only one is necessary. A line projected through the lubber lines would be precisely parallel to the boat’s fore-and-aft centerline.There may also be additional offset lubber lines marked to indicate beam bearings of objects at 90 degrees to the boat’s heading, or simply to help maintain a course when the person at the helm is standing to one side or the other of the compass.The origin of the term is obscure, though it may have been applied originally to the vertical line that allowed even a “lubber”—a big clumsy seaman—to steer a precise course by compass.See also Compass Types.


WordNet: lubber's line
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a fixed line on a ship's compass indicating its heading
  Synonyms: lubber line, lubber's mark, lubber's point


Wikipedia: Lubber line
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A lubber line is a fixed-line displayed on a compass binnacle or radar plan position indicator display pointing towards the front of the ship or aircraft and corresponding to the craft's centreline.

The line represents 0 degrees and is therefore the zero-point from which relative-bearings are measured, e.g., "twenty-degrees to port".


 
 

 

Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Boating Encyclopedia. The Practical Encyclopedia of Boating. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Lubber line" Read more