Naut. (See quot. 1846.)
1485. Nav. Acc. Hen. VII. (1896), 50. Wast trees … ij.
1627. Capt. J. Smith, Sea Gram., ii. 9. The Waist boords are set vp in the Ships waist, betwixt the Gun-waile and the waist trees.
1704. J. Harris, Lex. Techn., I. Wast-Trees, are those Timbers of a Ship which lie in the Waste.
1846. A. Young, Naut. Dict., Waist-Tree or Rough-Tree, a spare spar placed along the side of a ship’s waist where there happens to be no bulwark, in order to protect persons from falling overboard.
