Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Deck \Deck\, n. [D. dek. See {Deck}, v.]
1. The floorlike covering of the horizontal sections, or
compartments, of a ship. Small vessels have only one deck;
larger ships have two or three decks.
Note: The following are the more common names of the decks of
vessels having more than one.
{Berth deck} (Navy), a deck next below the gun deck, where
the hammocks of the crew are swung.
{Boiler deck} (River Steamers), the deck on which the boilers
are placed.
{Flush deck}, any continuous, unbroken deck from stem to
stern.
{Gun deck} (Navy), a deck below the spar deck, on which the
ship's guns are carried. If there are two gun decks, the
upper one is called the main deck, the lower, the lower
gun deck; if there are three, one is called the middle gun
deck.
{Half-deck}, that portion of the deck next below the spar
deck which is between the mainmast and the cabin.
{Hurricane deck} (River Steamers, etc.), the upper deck,
usually a light deck, erected above the frame of the hull.
{Orlop deck}, the deck or part of a deck where the cables are
stowed, usually below the water line.
{Poop deck}, the deck forming the roof of a poop or poop
cabin, built on the upper deck and extending from the
mizzenmast aft.
{Quarter-deck}, the part of the upper deck abaft the
mainmast, including the poop deck when there is one.
{Spar deck}.
(a) Same as the upper deck.
(b) Sometimes a light deck fitted over the upper deck.
{Upper deck}, the highest deck of the hull, extending from
stem to stern.
2. (arch.) The upper part or top of a mansard roof or curb
roof when made nearly flat.
3. (Railroad) The roof of a passenger car.
4. A pack or set of playing cards.
The king was slyly fingered from the deck. --Shak.
5. A heap or store. [Obs.]
Who . . . hath such trinkets Ready in the deck.
--Massinger.
{Between decks}. See under {Between}.
{Deck bridge} (Railroad Engineering), a bridge which carries
the track upon the upper chords; -- distinguished from a
through bridge, which carries the track upon the lower
chords, between the girders.
{Deck curb} (Arch.), a curb supporting a deck in roof
construction.
{Deck floor} (Arch.), a floor which serves also as a roof, as
of a belfry or balcony.
{Deck hand}, a sailor hired to help on the vessel's deck, but
not expected to go aloft.
{Deck molding} (Arch.), the molded finish of the edge of a
deck, making the junction with the lower slope of the
roof.
{Deck roof} (Arch.), a nearly flat roof which is not
surmounted by parapet walls.
{Deck transom} (Shipbuilding), the transom into which the
deck is framed.
{To clear the decks} (Naut.), to remove every unnecessary
incumbrance in preparation for battle; to prepare for
action.
{To sweep the deck} (Card Playing), to clear off all the
stakes on the table by winning them.
Gun \Gun\, n. [OE. gonne, gunne; of uncertain origin; cf. Ir.,
{Gael}.) A LL. gunna, W. gum; possibly (like cannon) fr. L.
canna reed, tube; or abbreviated fr. OF. mangonnel, E.
mangonel, a machine for hurling stones.]
1. A weapon which throws or propels a missile to a distance;
any firearm or instrument for throwing projectiles by the
explosion of gunpowder, consisting of a tube or barrel
closed at one end, in which the projectile is placed, with
an explosive charge behind, which is ignited by various
means. Muskets, rifles, carbines, and fowling pieces are
smaller guns, for hand use, and are called {small arms}.
Larger guns are called {cannon}, {ordnance},
{fieldpieces}, {carronades}, {howitzers}, etc. See these
terms in the Vocabulary.
As swift as a pellet out of a gunne When fire is in
the powder runne. --Chaucer.
The word gun was in use in England for an engine to
cast a thing from a man long before there was any
gunpowder found out. --Selden.
2. (Mil.) A piece of heavy ordnance; in a restricted sense, a
cannon.
3. pl. (Naut.) Violent blasts of wind.
Note: Guns are classified, according to their construction or
manner of loading as {rifled} or {smoothbore},
{breech-loading} or {muzzle-loading}, {cast} or
{built-up guns}; or according to their use, as {field},
{mountain}, {prairie}, {seacoast}, and {siege guns}.
{Armstrong gun}, a wrought iron breech-loading cannon named
after its English inventor, Sir William Armstrong.
{Great gun}, a piece of heavy ordnance; hence (Fig.), a
person superior in any way.
{Gun barrel}, the barrel or tube of a gun.
{Gun carriage}, the carriage on which a gun is mounted or
moved.
{Gun cotton} (Chem.), a general name for a series of
explosive nitric ethers of cellulose, obtained by steeping
cotton in nitric and sulphuric acids. Although there are
formed substances containing nitric acid radicals, yet the
results exactly resemble ordinary cotton in appearance. It
burns without ash, with explosion if confined, but quietly
and harmlessly if free and open, and in small quantity.
Specifically, the lower nitrates of cellulose which are
insoluble in ether and alcohol in distinction from the
highest (pyroxylin) which is soluble. See {Pyroxylin}, and
cf. {Xyloidin}. The gun cottons are used for blasting and
somewhat in gunnery: for making celluloid when compounded
with camphor; and the soluble variety (pyroxylin) for
making collodion. See {Celluloid}, and {Collodion}. Gun
cotton is frequenty but improperly called nitrocellulose.
It is not a nitro compound, but an ethereal salt of nitric
acid.
{Gun deck}. See under {Deck}.
{Gun fire}, the time at which the morning or the evening gun
is fired.
{Gun metal}, a bronze, ordinarily composed of nine parts of
copper and one of tin, used for cannon, etc. The name is
also given to certain strong mixtures of cast iron.
{Gun port} (Naut.), an opening in a ship through which a
cannon's muzzle is run out for firing.
{Gun tackle} (Naut.), the blocks and pulleys affixed to the
side of a ship, by which a gun carriage is run to and from
the gun port.
{Gun tackle purchase} (Naut.), a tackle composed of two
single blocks and a fall. --Totten.
{Krupp gun}, a wrought steel breech-loading cannon, named
after its German inventor, Herr Krupp.
{Machine gun}, a breech-loading gun or a group of such guns,
mounted on a carriage or other holder, and having a
reservoir containing cartridges which are loaded into the
gun or guns and fired in rapid succession, sometimes in
volleys, by machinery operated by turning a crank. Several
hundred shots can be fired in a minute with accurate aim.
The {Gatling gun}, {Gardner gun}, {Hotchkiss gun}, and
{Nordenfelt gun}, named for their inventors, and the
French {mitrailleuse}, are machine guns.
{To blow great guns} (Naut.), to blow a gale. See {Gun}, n.,
3.
Source : WordNet®
gun deck
n : formerly any deck other than the weather deck having cannons
from end to end