Reference > Brewer’s Dictionary > Warp (To).

 Warning Stone.Warp and Weft, or Woof. 
CONTENTS · BIBLIOGRAPHIC RECORD
E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
 
Warp (To).
 
A sea term, meaning to shift the position of a vessel. This is done by means of a rope called a warp. Kedging is when the warp is bent to a kedge, which is let go, and the vessel is hove ahead by the capstan.   1
       
“The potent rod
       
Of Amram’s son [Moses], in Egypt’s evil day,
Waved round the coast, up-called a pitchy cloud
Of locusts, warping [shifting about] in the eastern wind.”
       
Milton: Paradise Lost, i. 338.
   In Lancashire, warping means laying eggs; and boys, on finding a bird’s nest, will ask—“And how many eggs has she warped?”   2
 


 Warning Stone.Warp and Weft, or Woof. 

 

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