MARLINSPIKE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does marlinspike mean? 

• MARLINSPIKE (noun)
  The noun MARLINSPIKE has 1 sense:

1. a pointed iron hand tool that is used to separate strands of a rope or cable (as in splicing)

  Familiarity information: MARLINSPIKE used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MARLINSPIKE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A pointed iron hand tool that is used to separate strands of a rope or cable (as in splicing)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

marlinespike; marlingspike; marlinspike

Hypernyms ("marlinspike" is a kind of...):

hand tool (a tool used with workers' hands)

 Context examples 

Another time he dropped a steel marlinspike from the mizzen crosstree.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

When I joined the Service, you would find a lieutenant gammoning and rigging his own bowsprit, or aloft, maybe, with a marlinspike slung round his neck, showing an example to his men.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)