Forms: 1 weder, 2 wæder, 2–5 weder, 4 Sc. vedir, weddire, wedyre, 4–5 wedir(e, wedre, wedur, wedyr, whedir, 5 Sc. weddre, -ir, -yr, wedere, wedyer, wheder, whed(d)yr, 6 woddur, wedor, Sc. wadder, (veddir), wodder, -ir, woder, (vodder); 5 wethyr, 5–7 wether, 5–6 whether, 6, 9 Sc. wathir, (6 vedthir), 6– weather. Com. Teut. (not recorded in Gothic): OE. weder neut., OFris. weder, wether (NFris. wedder, WFris. waer, war), OS. wedar weather, storm, Du. weder, weer, OHG. wetar (MHG. weter, mod.G. wetter), ON. veðr (Sw. väder, Da. vejr):—OTeut. *weðro-m. It is uncertain whether the pre-Teut. form was *wedhro-m (= OSI. vedro, Russian ведро good weather, vedrŭ adj., fair, said of weather; cogn. w. Lith. vidras, vydra, storm, ándra storm, flood) or *wetró-m (ablaut-var. of Lith. vétra storm, Osl. vĕtrŭ air, wind); on either alternative the word is prob. f. the Indogermanic root *wē to blow (see WIND sb.1) + suffix dhro- or tro-.
The spelling with th instead of the earlier d first occurs in the 15th c. (though the pronunciation which it indicates may well be much older); before the end of the 16th c. it had become universal. In several dialects, chiefly Sc. and n.w., the pronunciation with (d) still survives. See TH 6, and the note s.v. FATHER sb.
The nautical use = wind, direction of the wind (see senses 3, 8) is probably derived from ON. veðr.]
1. The condition of the atmosphere (at a given place and time) with respect to heat or cold, quantity of sunshine, presence or absence of rain, hail, snow, thunder, fog, etc., violence or gentleness of the winds. Also, the condition of the atmosphere regarded as subject to vicissitudes.
For wind and weather (rarely † weather and wind) see WIND sb.
c. 725. Corpus Gloss. (Hessels), T 121. Temperiem, uueder.
a. 1000. Azarias, 62. Wedere onlicust, þonne on sumeres tid sended weorþeð dropena dreorung.
a. 1100. Gerefa, in Anglia, IX. 259. Þæt he friðiʓe & forðiʓe ælce [tilþe] be ðam … ðe hine weder wisað.
c. 1205. Lay., 12042. Þe wind gond aliðen & þat weder leoðede.
1297. R. Glouc. (Rolls), 2441. & vor weder & oþer þing on erþe after hom [sc. the planets] moche is, Þis misbileuede men hom clupede godes.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 670. And if ye liggen wel to-night, com ofte, And careth not what weder is on-lofte.
c. 1400. T. Chestre, Launfal, 223. And for hete of the wedere Hys mantell he feld togydere And sette hym doun to reste.
c. 1403. Lydg., Temple of Glas, 395. And oft also, aftir a dropping mone, The weddir clereþ.
c. 1450. St. Cuthbert (Surtees), 627. But sodanly þe wedir chaunged.
c. 1520. Skelton, Garl. Laurel, 1442. How men were wonte for to discerne By candelmes day what wedder shuld holde.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph., II. (Arb.), 161. The lengthe or shortnesse of the marke is alwayes vnder the rule of the wether.
1545. Raynalde, Byrth Mankynde, 83. Item the intemperancie & mutation of the ayre, & whether, may be cause of aborcement.
1528. Lyndesay, Dreme, 774. Surmountyng the myd Regioun of the air, Quhare no maner of perturbatioun Off wodder may ascend so hie as thair.
1609. Pimlyco, or Runne Red-Cap, D 2. To know what Wether was to come By ’th Almanacke.
1667. Sprat, Hist. Royal-Soc., 247. A Wheel-Barometer, and other Instruments for finding the pressure of the Air, and serving to predict the changes of the Weather.
1678. Lady Chaworth, in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 45. Lady Portsmouth … goes to Bourbon as soone as the weather opens to allow travelling.
1779. Mirror, No. 35. The conversation began about the weather, my aunt observing, that the seasons were wonderfully altered in her memory.
1853. Mrs. Gaskell, Ruth, xxv. It was weather for open doors and windows.
1859. H. Kingsley, G. Hamlyn, viii. However, I am sincerely glad you are come, I knew no weather would stop you.
1890. C. Dixon, Ann. Bird Life, 309. They are birds which have no regular winter home … they wander to and fro, south and north, just as the exigency of the weather drives them.
¶ In advb. phrases sometimes with omission of in.
1738. C’tess Pomfret, in C’tess Hartford’s Corr. (1805), I. 10. On your left hand is the fire (no bad thing this weather), and on your right a window.
1896. Housman, Shropshire Lad, xxv. Fred keeps the house all kinds of weather.
b. With descriptive adj., e.g., good, bad; hot, cold, warm; bright, dull; fine, fair, foul; dry, wet, rainy; clear, thick; rough, windy, still, calm.
c. 893. K. Ælfred, Oros., VI. xxxii. Þa het he betan þærinne micel fyr, for þon hit wæs ceald weder.
c. 1000. Ags. Gosp., Matt. xvi. 2. To-morʓen byt byð smylte weder, þes heofen ys read.
c. 1220. Bestiary, 336. Ðe mire is maȝti, Mikel ȝe swinkeð In sumer and in softe weder.
c. 1290. S. E. Leg., 198. Þat weder þat was so cler and fair.
1340. Ayenb., 129. Ase uayr weder went in-to rene.
c. 1340. Richard Rolle of Hampole, Prick of Conscience, 1442. Nowes the wedir bright and shynand, And now waxes it alle domland.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 2440. What of here hard heiȝing & of þe hote weder, Meliors was al mat.
1362. Langl., P. Pl., A. VII. 310. Þorw Flodes and foul weder Fruites schul fayle.
c. 1394. P. Pl. Crede, 300. Nou han þei … hosen in harde weder.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 146/1. Fayre, mery wedur or tyme, amenus.
1470–85. Malory, Arthur, XIV. ix. 653. And at that tyme the wheder was hote.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, xv. 56. The reyny wedre therto propyce and conuenable.
1578. Lyte, Dodoens, II. xlvi. 204. Sometimes they flower againe in Autumne when the whether is milde and pleasant.
1600. Shaks., A. Y. L., V. iv. 142. You and you, are sure together, As the Winter to fowle Weather.
1631. Pellham, Gods Power, 4. But the next day,… the weather falling out something thicke, and much yce in the Offing [etc.].
1653. Walton, Angler, ii. 41. The gloves of an Otter are the best fortification for your hands against wet weather that can be thought of.
1774. M. Mackenzie, Maritime Surv., 95. In moderate Weather, anchor a Vessel at the Shoal.
1782. Miss Burney, Cecilia, VIII. ix. To go out in all weather to work. Ibid., IX. v. The weather being good on the morning he called.
1842. Dickens, Amer. Notes, ii. The vessel being pretty deep in the water,… and the weather being calm and quiet, there was but little motion. Ibid. (1853), Bleak Ho., xv. There was no fire, though the weather was cold.
1919. H. L. Wilson, Ma Pettengill, 165. Will you look at that mess of clouds? I bet it’s falling weather over in Surprise Valley.
c. fig. and in figurative context.
1603. R. Johnson, Kingd. & Commw., 65. Iustinian restored it [the Empire] somewhat to a better state, driuing the Vandals out of Africke, and the Gothes out of Italy by his captaines; but this faire weather lasted not long.
1630. Bp. Hall, Occas. Medit., § 73. O God … Let mee haue no Weather but Sunneshine from thee.
1751. Smollett, Per. Pickle, xcvi. Pipes, who … knew the contents of the piece [a pistol], asked … if it must be foul weather through the whole voyage.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xlvii. Certain polemical skirmishes betwixt her father and her husband, which … often threatened unpleasant weather between them.
1862. Thackeray, Philip, xxviii. We hadn’t much besides our pay, had we? we rubbed on through bad weather and good, managing as best we could.
1878. E. W. Benson, in Life (1899), I. xiii. 463. But we have foul weather coming. We have to do the Church’s work without sacrificing those party men, [etc.].
1901. N. Amer. Rev., Feb., 266. A barometer is thus formed by which the financial weather of the country is forecast.
† d. With indef. article: A kind of weather; a spell of a particular kind of weather. Obs.
c. 1205. Lay., 4573. Æst aras a ladlich weder. Ibid., 7398. Þeo com heom a wedere wunderliche feire.
c. 1374. Chaucer, Troylus, III. 657. Lord, this is an huge rayn! This were a weder for to slepen inne.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 12914. It made tho a lothely wedur, Hit raynes faste, thondres, & blowes.
1546. Gassar’s Prognost., A viij b. Not long before the Sonne shall set, we may looke for a trobelous wether, & perchaunce snow.
1548. Elyot’s Dict., Apricitas,… a fayre clere wether.
1618. Rowlands, Sacred Mem., 25. Their storme was chang’d into a fayre calme weather.
e. pl. Kinds of weather: sometimes equivalent to sing. Now rare exc. in phr. (in) all weathers.
Beowulf, 546. Wedera cealdost, nipende niht ond norþan wind, heaðogrim ondhwearf.
a. 900. Andreas, 1256. Weder coledon heardum hæʓelscurum.
c. 1000. Sax. Leechd., II. 244. Swa bið eac on wintra, for cyle & for þara wedra missenlicnesse, þæt se milte wyrð ʓelefed.
c. 1175. Lamb. Hom., 13. Westmes þorð uuele wederas oft and ilome scal for-wurðan.
c. 1325. Poem temp. Edw. II. (Percy), xxxv. Calel cometh and goth As wederis don in lyde.
1340. Hampole, Pr. Consc., 1424. Sere variaunce, for certayn skille, Of þe tyms and wedirs and sesons.
c. 1350. Will. Palerne, 5216. For wind & gode wederes hade þei at wille.
1377. Langl., P. Pl., B. XV. 349. For þorw werre and wykked werkes and wederes vnresonable Wederwise shipmen … Han no belieue to þe lifte ne to þe lore of philosofres.
c. 1449. Pecock, Repr., II. ii. 146. God is such oon, that he nedith not to haue housis ouer him for to couere him fro reyne and fro othir sturne wedris.
a. 1450. Le Morte Arth., 2470. Wederes had they feyre and good.
1526. in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), I. 618. Dowble bandes of leade for defence of great wyndes and other outragious wethers.
1639. J. Taylor (Water P.), Pt. Summers Trav., 44. Every Sunday, be it Winter or Summer, all manner of weathers.
1697. T. Smith, in Lett. Lit. Men (Camden), 247. I was forced … to go downe to Westminster … in all weathers.
1706. E. Ward, Wooden World Diss. (1708), 21. He’s … not so stiff as to carry Sail against all Weathers.
1717. Lady M. W. Montagu, Lett. to Abbé Conti, 17 May. It is covered on the top with boards to keep out the rain, that merchants may meet conveniently in all weathers.
1849. C. Brontë, Shirley, xi. She took walks in all weathers—long walks in solitary directions.
1862. H. Kingsley, Ravenshoe, xix. It was impossible to pass round the promontory on horseback in the best of weathers; now doubly so.
1865. Dickens, Mut. Fr., I. v. All weathers saw the man at the post.
fig. 1611. Shaks., Wint. T., V. i. 195. Camillo ha’s betray’d me; Whose honor, and whose honestie till now, Endur’d all Weathers.
† f. With implied favorable qualification: Weather suitable for some purpose. Obs.
c. 1375. Sc. Leg. Saints, xxvii. (Machar), 1486. Þar-to weddire had þai þane, þat þai wane froyt of land & se thru his prayere in gret pleynte.
1393. Langl., P. Pl., C. VII. 113. Bote ich hadde wedir at my wil ich wited god þe cause.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 3280. Thei … passed the see, when thei hadde wedur, To Thenedoun.
1469. Plumpton Corr. (Camden), 21. Whether is so latesum in this cuntrey, that men can neither well gett corne nor hay.
g. With unfavorable implication: Adverse, unpleasant, hurtful or destructive condition of the atmosphere; rain, frost, wind-driven waves, etc., as destructive agents. Stress of weather: see STRESS sb. 3.
a. 1122. O. E. Chron. (Laud), an. 1097. He þohte his hired on Winceastre to healdenne, ac he wearð þurh weder ʓelet. Ibid., an. 1114. Ac wæder him lætte.
1340–70. Alex. & Dind., 443. Swich housinge we han to holde out þe wedures.
c. 1400. Sowdone Bab., 76. A drift of wedir vs droffe to Rome.
1425. Paston Lett., Suppl. (1901), 5. Whether it wille chippe or chynne or affraye with frost or weder or water.
a. 1548. Hall, Chron., Edw. IV., 233 b. Which bridge was made and covered with bordes, onely to kepe of the wether.
1557. Tusser, 100 Points Husb., xxxv. Thinges sowne, set or graft, in good memory haue: from beast, birde and weather to cherishe and saue.
1606. G. W[oodcocke], Hist. Ivstine, II. 7. Before the vse of garments was found out against weathers iniury.
1616. T. Scot, Philomythie, H 6 b. His [the weathercock’s] taile was too too weake, when euery feather Was bent with storms, and broken with the weather.
1638. M. Casaubon, Use & Custom, 77. It hath beene observed of some free stones, that … if they bee laid in that proper posture, which they had naturally in their quarries, they grow very hard and durable against both time and weather.
1665. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm., App. V. 4. The stones … being of a soft … condition and not able to endure the sunn and weather.
1693. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 251. Chords, which should be well Pitched to preserve them from the Weather, and rotting.
1814. Scott, Ld. of Isles, IV. xxii. Weather and war their rougher trace Have left on that majestic face.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., lvii. ‘Are you well wrapped up?’… I told him I cared for no weather, and was warmly clothed.
1872. Shipley, Gloss. Eccl. Terms, s.v. Louvre Boards, Boards … to keep out the weather.
fig. 1663. Charleton, Chorea Gigant., 18. An Invention … not so firmly founded, as to be impregnable; nor so closely compacted in all its parts, as to keep out all weather of Contradiction.
h. Violent wind accompanied by heavy rain or agitation of the waves. Now dial. and Naut. † Also, a storm, tempest; often pleonastically, storm, tempest of weather(s. Obs.
c. 888. Ælfred, Boeth., xxxviii. § 1. Ða ʓestod hine heah weder & stormsæ.
c. 1205. Lay., 102. Mid wolcnen & mid wedere heo þoleden wensiðes.
c. 1250. Gen. & Ex., 3055. Moyses, do ðis weder charen, And ȝu sal [ic] leten ut-faren.
a. 1300. Cursor M., 6018. Þe seuend on-sand [sc. of the plagues of Egypt] Was a weder ful selcut snell.
13[?]. K. Alis., 5794 (Laud MS.). Þe wederes stronge & tempestes … hem duden grete molestes.
c. 1381. Chaucer, Parl. Foules, v. 681. Now welcom somer, with thy sonne softe, That hast this wintres weders over-shake.
1387–8. T. Usk, Test. Love, I. iii. 63. And so by mokel duresse of weders and of stormes … I was driven to an yle.
c. 1400. Maundev. (Roxb.), xxxii. 144. Þer es neuermare … nowþer thunner ne leuenyng, haile ne snawe, ne oþer tempestez of ill weders.
1402. Pol. Poems (Rolls), II. 44. To were us from wederes of wynteres stormes.
c. 1420. Wyntoun, Cron., VII. x. 3278. And þar be a tempest fel Off gret wedderis scharpe and snel.
1450–1530. Myrr. our Ladye, III. 303. There are gendered tempastes of weder and hayle.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, xxx. 114. Whan thenne they had ronne & saylled so moche that they were in the highe see a stronge weddre arose.
1523. Ld. Berners, Froiss. (1812), I. cccxxiv. 506. This rayne and wether endured tyll the sonne rose.
1526. Tindale, Heb. xii. 18. Ye are not come … to myst and darcknes and tempest of wedder [Gr. θυέλλη].
1531. Test. Ebor. (Surtees), VI. 26. Tempestes of wedder or stormes.
1553. T. Wilson, Rhet., 106 b. Diogenes beeyng vpon the Sea emong a number of naughtie packes in a greate storme of wether, when diuerse of these wicked felowes cried out for feare of drownyng, [etc.].
1598. in Rec. Convent. Burghs Scot. (1870), II. 27. [They] alegeit thai war impeidit be storme of wedder.
1703. Dampier, Voy., III. I. 10. Upon these Signs Ships either get up their Anchors, or slip their Cables and put to Sea, and ply off and on till the Weather is over.
1718. Hearne, Collect. (O.H.S.), VI. 212. The Master and the other Servant, running through the Weather towards the Houses, were both struck dead.
1894. Hall Caine, Manxman, III. v. ‘Then don’t be late,’ said he, ‘there’s weather coming.’
1898. Kipling, in Morn. Post, 11 Nov., 5/2. Wasn’t it a beautifully disciplined Mess, though? I wish you could see ’em at sea in weather.
† i. What falls from the clouds; rain, snow, etc. Also in fig. context. Obs.
1382. Wyclif, Deut. xxxii. 2. Flowe as dewe my speche, as wedre [Vulg. imber] vpon erbe. Ibid., Job xxiv. 8, Eccl. xi. 3, Isa. v. 6, Jer. xiv. 22.
c. 1400. Rom. Rose, 4336. But er he it in sheves shere, May falle a weder that shal it dere.
c. 1475. Rauf Coilȝear, 74. The wedderis ar sa fell, that fallis on the feild.
a. 1533. Ld. Berners, Golden Bk. M. Aurel., xxxiv. (1535), 59. The labourer whan it reyneth not, couereth his house, thinkinge that an other tyme the wethers or raynes wyll fall theron and trouble hym.
1595. Shaks., John, IV. ii. 109. A fearefull eye thou hast!… So foule a skie cleeres not without a storme: Poure downe thy weather! how goes all in France?
1825. Jamieson, Weather, a fall of rain or snow accompanied with boisterous wind. Roxb. When the wind comes singly…, [people say] ‘It ’ill be no weather the day, but wind.’
† j. In contexts relating to clouds or fog, the word sometimes assumes the sense of: Air, sky. Obs.
c. 1375. Cursor M., 24414 (Fairf.). Þe wedder [earlier texts air, aier] be-gan to derkin & blake.
c. 1475. Pict. Voc., in Wr.-Wülcker, 801/1–4. Hic aier, Hec aera, Hic ether, Hec ethera, the wethyr.
a. 1500. Coventry Corpus Chr. Plays, i. 209. These wedurs ar darke and dym of lyght.
1530. Palsgr., 648/1. I overcast, as the weather dothe wan it is close or darke and lykely to rayne…. We shall have a rayne a none, the weather is sore overcaste sodaynly…. I overcast, as the cloudes do the weather.
c. 1605. Drayton, Ballad Agincourt, 76. Arrowes … that like to serpents stoong, pearcing the Wether.
2. Phrases.
† a. The weather rains, thunders, etc. = ‘it rains,’ etc. Obs.
1390. Gower, Conf., I. 140. The weder schal upon thee reine.
1590. Sir J. Smythe, Disc. Weapons, 19 b. If in the tyme of anie battle … the weather doth happen to raine, haile, or snow.
1634. Sir T. Herbert, Trav., 24. The weather thundring and storming exceedingly.
† b. To make (rarely bear) fair weather: to be conciliatory, make a show of friendliness (to or with a person); also, to make a specious show of goodness, etc. To make fair weather of (a state of things): to gloss over, represent as better than it is. Obs.
c. 1400. Laud Troy Bk., 8289. At here comyng thei made fair wedur, And spak of many thyoges to-gedur.
1537. Cromwell, in Merriman, Life & Lett. (1902), II. 93. Thother parte declare him in wordes towards his Maieste to make only faire wether, and in his harte … to doo all that he canne to his graces dishonour.
1547. Cheke, in Harington, Nugæ Ant. (1804), I. 20. And if anye suche shall be, that shall of all things make fair weather, and, whatsoever they shall see to the contrarye, shall tell you all is well.
1560. Daus, trans. Sleidane’s Comm., 369 b. Duke Moris … to make fayre weather [L. pacificationis causa] sendeth his ambassadors to the Counsell.
1583. Golding, Calvin on Deut., cxix. 732. And that is the cause why wee see so fewe holde out in weldoing. Many make faire wether for a time, so as yee woulde thinke them to bee maruellous good men: but in the turning of a hande all is marde.
1589. R. Payne, Brief Descr. Irel., 7. Al the better sort doe deadly hate ye Spaniardes, & yet I thinke they beare them fayre weather, for that they are the popes champions.
1593. Shaks., 2 Hen. VI., V. i. 30. But I must make faire weather yet a while, Till Henry be more weake, and I more strong.
1596. Edw. III., I. ii. 23. Returne and say, That we with England will not enter parlie, Nor neuer make faire wether, or take truce.
1598. Marston, Pygmal., Sat., i. 31. Ixion makes faire weather vnto Ioue.
1622. Bacon, Hen. VII., 49. To which message, although the French King gaue no full credit, yet he made faire weather with the King, and seemed satisfied.
1673. Kirkman, Unlucky Cit., 163. My Mother-in-law made very fair weather to me, and gave me many good words.
c. Naut. Of a ship, to make good, bad, etc., weather of it: to behave well or ill in a storm.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. ii. 17. We make foul weather.
1781. Naval Chron., XI. 287. The Ship makes a very good weather of it.
1860. Merc. Marine Mag., VII. 86. The ship making very bad weather and shipping large quantities of water.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Make bad weather, To. A ship rolling, pitching, or leaking violently in a gale.
1881. Daily Tel., 28 Jan. The sea was … not so heavy but that in my judgment a twenty-ton yacht would have made excellent weather of it.
fig. 1915. ‘Ian Hay,’ 1st Hund. Thou., I. xiii. § 2. The feckless and muddle-headed, making heavy weather of the simplest tasks.
d. In the weather: in an exposed situation, unprotected from rain, cold and wind; in the open air (usually with implication of severe weather). Similarly to go into, through the weather.
a. 1513. Fabyan, Chron., V. lxxxiii. (1516), 32. The kynges Herdemen passyd by, And seynge this Bysshop with his company syttyng in the weder, desyred hym to his howse to take there such poore lodgynge as he had.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., II. 102. The Tree roots best, that in the Weather stands.
1693. Moxon, Mech. Exerc. (1703), 241. The out side of Buildings that lies in the Weather.
1842. Dickens, Amer. Notes, ii. The captain … turns up his coat collar … and goes laughing out into the weather as merrily as to a birthday party.
1865. Mrs. H. Wood, Mildred Arkell, xlvi. They started together through the weather to the house of William Arkell.
1880. Howells, Undisc. Country, xiii. 190. Her longing to be in the weather (after an illness).
† e. Down the weather: in adversity. To go down the weather: to become bankrupt. Obs.
1611. Cotgr., s.v. Aller, Aller au saffran, to fall to decay, to grow bankrupt in estate, to goe down the weather.
1641. J. Shute, Sarah & Hagar (1649), 63. We see how Job was despised when he was down the weather, yea even by those, whom, when he prospered, he would scarce have set with the dogs of his flock.
f. Under the weather (orig. U.S.): indisposed, not quite well.
1850. D. G. Mitchell, Lorgnette (1852), I. 50. As for the Frenchman, though now, between the valorous Poussin and the long-faced Bonaparte, a little under the weather [etc.].
1882. Miss Braddon, Mt. Royal, II. iv. 59. ‘What, old lady, are you under the weather?’ he asked, turning to survey his mother with a critical air.
1887. F. R. Stockton, Borrowed Month, 68. They had been very well as a general thing, although now and then they might have been under the weather for a day or two.
g. Weather permitting: often appended to an announcement (e.g., of the sailing of a vessel) to indicate that it is conditional on the weather being favorable.
1712. Lond. Gaz., No. 4953/4. The Edgley Gally will be ready to Sail…, Wind and Weather permitting.
1842. Dickens, Amer. Notes, i. There was a beautiful port-hole which could be kept open all day (weather permitting).
1895. Black’s Guide Devon. (ed. 15), 168. The steamers from Portishead to Ilfracombe call, going and returning, off Lynton, weather permitting.
h. Clerk of the weather: see CLERK sb. 3.
1835. C. F. Hoffman, Winter in West, I. 38. I could not, if I had made my own private arrangements with the clerk of the weather, have fixed it upon the whole more to my satisfaction.
i. To stretch wing to weather: to fly.
1825. Scott, Betrothed, xxiii. If they be not carefully trained I would rather have a gosshawk on my perch than the fairest falcon that ever stretched wing to weather.
3. Naut. The direction in which the wind is blowing. ‘Applied to anything lying to windward of a particular situation’ (Adm. Smyth). In various phrases: To luff nigh the weather: to sail near the wind; in quot. fig. To drive with the weather: to drift with the wind and waves. To have the weather of: to be to windward of (another ship); similarly in, into, on, to, upon (the) weather of. Also, in, into the weather; up to weather: to windward. Cf. A-WEATHER.
1390. Gower, Conf., II. 370. Or elles thei take ate leste Out of hir hand or ring or glove, So nyh the weder thei wol love.
1526. Tindale, Acts xxvii. 15. We lett her goo, and drave with the wedder [ἑφερόμεθα].
1557. Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 113. Wee had sight of three sailes of shippes … which were in the weather of vs. Ibid. When we met, they had the weather of vs.
1565[?]. J. Sparke, Ibid., 524. His pinnesse … being in the weather of him.
1588. in St. Papers Defeat Sp. Armada (Navy Rec. Soc., 1894), II. 107. After this we cast about our ship, and kept ourselves close by the Spaniard until midnight, sometime hearing a voice in Spanish calling us; but the wind being very great and we in the weather, the voice was carried away.
c. 1595. Capt. Wyatt, R. Dudley’s Voy. W. Ind. (Hakl. Soc.), 18. [Hee] gave commaundement that the carvell shoulde plie up into the weather. Ibid. The French admerall, who laie aloofe of some six leagues to weather.
1692. J. Smith’s Sea-mans Gram., I. xvi. 78. Weather Gage, is when one Ship has the Wind (or is to weather) of another.
1842. Browning, Waring, iii. 12. Then the boat … from the lee, Into the weather, cut somehow Her sparkling path beneath our bow.
1868. Field, 25 July, 83/2. The Mabella [yacht] too, was much closer on her weather than was pleasant.
1903. Times, 21 Aug., 4/3. Reliance, though astern, was well up to weather. Ibid. Reliance by now had unmistakably got upon the challenger’s weather.
4. The angle that the sails of a windmill make with the perpendicular to the axis. More fully, angle of weather.
1759. Smeaton, in Phil. Trans., LI. 141, note. The angle of the sails is accounted from the plain of their motion; that is, when they stand at right angles to the axis, their angle is denoted 0°, this notation being agreeable to the language of practitioners, who call the angle so denoted, the weather of the sail.
1825. J. Nicholson, Operat. Mechanic, 138. In the mill-wright’s terms, the greatest angle of weather was 30 degrees, and the least varied from 12 to 6 degrees, as the inclination of the windshaft varied from 8 to 15 degrees.
5. = WEATHERING vbl. sb. 3. rare.
1894. A. M. Bell, in Jrnl. Anthrop. Inst., XXIII. 272. Beyond doubt they [two flints] were chipped at the same time … yet one is weathered, and the other is unaltered. So from an isolated example of weather I am in no haste to draw a conclusion. Ibid., 273. So also with surface finds; if they possess definite characteristics of form, of wear, of weather,… then these are certainly local accidents.
II. attrib. and Comb.
6. a. Simple attrib., as weather-cast, -change, -chart, forecast, -lore, -map, -mark, -report, -wear, † -wrack.
1866. A. Steinmetz, Weathercasts, 142, chapter title. *Weathercasts by the Barometer.
1878. R. Strachan, in Mod. Meteorology (1879), 84. A system of storm-warnings and weather-casts.
1876. Geo. Eliot, Deronda, lii. Something as dim as the sense of approaching *weather-change.
1901. Westm. Gaz., 26 Oct., 5/2. The *weather-chart … showed that there were several small atmospheric disturbances in the neighbourhood of the British Isles.
1883. Encycl. Brit., XVI. 158/1. *Weather Forecasts and Storm Warnings.
1875. Chamb. Jrnl., 2 Jan., 7/2. We shall thereby add every year to our *weather-lore of the various oceans and seas.
1883. Encycl. Brit., XVI. 157/1. The International Monthly *Weather Maps issued by the United States Signal Service.
1693. Humours Town, 15. Bringing Old Age and *Weather marks on you before you have run half your Course.
1824. Mactaggart, Gallovid. Encycl., 191. Owre moor and dale for mony a year, May Davie’s famous dykes appear, Ne’er bilged out wi’ *wather-wear, But just the same.
1875. Brash, Eccl. Archit. Irel., 96/1. In truth, I have seldom seen a better executed piece of masonry, despite the weather-wear of over seven hundred years.
a. 1616. Beaum. & Fl., Wit at Sev. Weapons, II. i. Well, well, you have built a nest That will stand all stormes, you need not mistrust A *weather-wrack.
b. objective, as † weather-wielder; weather-braving, -withstanding ppl. adjs.
c. 1611. Chapman, Iliad, VII. 3. As the weather-wielder sends, to Sea-men prosperous gales.
1800. Hurdis, Fav. Village, 4. How long upon the hill has stood Thy weather-braving tower.
1818. Scott, Hrt. Midl., xliii. Those prudent and resolved and weather-withstanding professors, wha hae kend what it was to lurk … in bogs and in caverns.
c. instrumental, as weather-bleached, -blown, -borne, -bronzed, -eaten, -hardened, -scarred, -stayed, -tanned, -tinted, † -waft, -wasted, -worn ppl. adjs. Also WEATHER-BEATEN, etc.
1784. Cowper, Task, V. 834. His country’s *weather-bleach’d and batter’d rocks.
c. 1611. Chapman, Iliad, II. 532. Strong Enispe, that for height, is euer *weather-blowne.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-borne, pressed by wind and sea.
1837. W. Irving, Capt. Bonneville, xv. Their … *weather-bronzed complexions.
1814. Coleridge, Lett. (1895), 640. [A Janus face] all *weather eaten.
1834. Southey, Doctor, ix. I. 111. A countenance which, *weather-hardened as it was, might have given the painter a model for a Patriarch.
1876. Miss Broughton, Joan, I. I. i. 5. Flashes of scarlet warmed up the cold and sunless colours of the *weather-scarred gray walls.
1854. Mrs. C. L. Balfour, Working Women (1868), 395. Whenever he had a guest belated or *weather-staid in that lonely region.
1853. Dickens, Bleak Ho., lii. A *weather-tanned … woman with a basket.
1814. Scott, Wav., v. (verses). The *weather-tinted rock and tower.
1647. Ward, Simple Cobler, 20. Men…, that are *weather-waft up and down with every eddy-wind of every new doctrine.
1822. Scott, Pirate, xix. These haggard and *weather-wasted features.
1609. Healey, Discov. New World, I. v. 13. We beheld a tombe, which as far as I could guesse by the *weather-worne inscription conteined the bones of the Romane Apicius.
1827. Carlyle, Germ. Lit., Misc. 1857, I. 48. The weather-worn sculptures of the Parthenon.
1862. Ansted, Channel Isl., I. i. (ed. 2), 8. Sark, somewhat the loftiest of the islands, is also the most weather-worn.
d. with adjectives expressing imperviousness or power of resistance (to the weather), as weather-free, -tight, -tough. Also WEATHER-PROOF.
1648. G. Daniel, Eclog, ii. 6. Lambs, sooner wise then wee, Have got the Hedge, and now stand Weather-free.
1819. Byron, Juan, II. xi. The dashing spray Flies in one’s face, and makes it weather-tough.
1832. Ht. Martineau, Ella of Gar., i. 10. If your honour would order the place down below to be made weather-tight for us.
1855. Poultry Chron., III. 388/1. Place a hen, with her brood, under a good weather-tight coop, with the bars in front just so far apart that she cannot get out, and we may reckon that they are established in life.
1902. A. Austin, Haunts Anc. Peace, 20. The cottages stood well back from highway or lane, looked solid, sturdy, and weather-tight, though of vague antiquity.
7. Special comb.: † weather-basket, a wickerwork screen or covering to protect a plant; weather-box = weather-house; weather-brained a. = WEATHER-HEADED; † weather-caster, a weather-prophet; weather-cloth Naut., a covering of canvas or tarpaulin used to protect boats, hammocks, etc., or to shelter persons from wind and spray; weather-cord, a cord used as a hygrometer; weather-cottage = weather-house; weather-deck, an upper deck exposed to the weather [cf. G. wetterdeck]; weather-dog dial. [DOG sb. 10] = WEATHER-GALL; weather-door (a) a louver-hole in a church steeple (cf. LOUVER 4, quot. 1858); (b) Mining (see quot.); † weather-fan, a punkah; weather-fane = FANE sb.1 2; weather-fence v. trans. = WEATHER-FEND; weather-fish = thunder-fish b (s.v. THUNDER sb. 6); † weather-flag, a vane; weather-gleam, -glim Sc. and north. dial., clear sky near a dark horizon; also, the horizon; weather-god, a god who presides over the weather; weather-guard v. trans., to guard against bad weather; weather-head dial., a secondary rainbow; weather-hen jocular, a female weathercock; an inconstant woman; weather-house, a toy hygroscope in the form of a small house with figures of a man and woman standing in two porches; by the varying torsion of a string the man comes out of his porch in wet weather and the woman out of hers in dry; weather-line, the surface of an embedded timber just above the ground; weather-maker, a weather-prophet; also weather-making vbl. sb.; † weather-man, one who observes the weather; † weather-monger, a weather-prophet; weather-moulding Arch., a drip-stone; † weather-plate, a plate marked with a scale for indicating the height of the mercury in a barometer; weather-prophet, one who foretells the weather; one who is weather-wise; also fig.; † weather-rope (see quot.); weather-sharp U.S. colloq., a weather-prophet; an official meteorologist (Cent. Dict., Suppl., 1909); weather-sick a., sick of, suffering from, the weather; weather-sign, a phenomenon that indicates change of weather; also fig.; † weather-skirt U.S. = SAFEGUARD sb. 8; weather-slated, -slating (cf. weather-tiled, -tiling); † weather-spar = WEATHERBOARD 2; † weather-spy, a weather-prophet; † weather-stone, a kind of stone classed according to its imperviousness to weather; weather-strip, a strip of wood or rubber applied to a crevice in order to exclude rain and cold (Webster, 1864); hence as vb. trans., to apply a weather-strip to (Cent. Dict., 1891); weather-table Arch. = WATER TABLE 1 b; weather-tile, a kind of tile used instead of weatherboard to cover a wall; weather-tiled ppl. a., covered with overlapping tiles; weather-tiling vbl. sb., the process or result of covering a wall with tiles; weather-tree, the white poplar, Populus alba; weather-vane = VANE 1; also fig.; weather-wall, a wall serving as a shield from the weather; weather-warning (see quot.); weather-wiseacre nonce-wd., one who professes to be weather-wise; † weather-wizard, a weather-prophet; † weather-works, devices to protect a ship from rough weather.
1699. Meager, New Art Garden., 28. When they are Grafted they must be fenced, either with a *weather-basket, or some earthen Vessel.
1848. Thackeray, Van. Fair, x. The elder and younger son of the house of Crawley were, like the gentleman and lady in the *weather-box, never at home together.
1826. Scott, Woodst., vii. But art thou not an inconsiderate *weather-brained fellow, to set forth as thou wert about to do, without any thing to bear thy charges…?
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., i. (1858), 10. There was a weather-brained tailor in the neighbourhood, who used to do very odd things, especially, it was said, when the moon was at the full.
1607. Dekker, Knt.’s Conjur. (1842), 9. The storme beeing at rest, what buying vp of almanacks was there to see if the *weather-casters had playd the doctors to a haire.
1856. Kane, Arct. Expl., I. xxiv. 315. A sort of *weather-cloth, which … would certainly make her more comfortable in heavy weather.
1897. Outing, XXIX. 547/1. A coil of rope for head-rest, a discarded sail for *weather cloth.
1746. Phil. Trans., XLIV. 169. The *Weather-Cord is an Hygrometer of a very ancient Invention.
1906. E. V. Lucas, Wanderer in Lond., 170. One of the old *weather-cottages, with a little man and a little woman to swing in and out and foretell rain and shine.
1850. Rep. Committee, in G. Moorsom, Admeas. Tonnage (1853), 167. The Depth in Midships from the Underside of the *Weather Deck to the Ceiling at the Limber Strake.
1904. Attwood, War-ships, 46. Wood is now only used for weather decks [etc.].
1908. Paasch, From Keel to Truck (ed. 4), 75. Weather-deck. Term given to an upper-deck on account of its exposure to the sun, rain and wind.
1758. Borlase, Nat. Hist. Cornw., 17. There appeared in the North-East the frustum of a large rainbow…. They call it here in Cornwall a *weather dog,… and pronounce it a certain sign of hard rain.
1865. R. Hunt, Pop. Rom. W. Eng. (1881), 434. ‘Weather dogs’ … are regarded as certain prognostications of showery or stormy weather.
1753. F. Price, Observ. Cathedral-Ch. Salisbury, 40. The upper part of the Spire … just below the *weather Door.
1881. Raymond, Mining Gloss., Weather-door, a door in a level to regulate the ventilating current.
1611. Cotgr., Poille,… also, an Vmbrello, or great *weather-fanne.
1773. Phil. Trans., LXIV. 140. The *weather-fane which terminates the conductor.
a. 1850. W. L. Bowles, Poems, Sylph of Summer, 466. Yon eastern downs, That *weather-fence the blossoms of the vale.
1886. H. G. Seeley, Freshw. Fishes Europe, 248. In Germany and Austria it [Misgurnus fossilis] is regarded as a weather prophet, and sometimes is called the *Weather-fish, because it usually comes to the surface about twenty-four hours before bad weather, and moves about with unusual energy.
1611. Cotgr., Girouette, a fane, or *weather-flag.
1802. Sibbald, Chron. S. P., Gloss., *Weddir-glim, clear sky, near the horizon; spoken of objects seen in the twilight or dusk; as ‘between him and the wedder-glim.’
1817. Blackw. Mag., Oct., 84/1. While … the weather-gleam of the eastern hills began to be tinged with the brightening dawn.
1819. W. Tennant, Papistry Storm’d (1827), 185. Nae cloud owr-head the lift did dim, But i’ the wastern weddir-glim A black up-castin’.
1905. E. Clodd, Animism, § 11. 58. Indra, the old Vedic *weather-god, has been completely elbowed out as an object of worship by special rain-gods.
1885. Buck’s Handbk. Med. Sci., I. 338/2. The pioneers attend to this work, trenching the ground, *weather-guarding the shelters.
a. 1825. Forby, Voc. E. Anglia, *Weather-head, the secondary rainbow.
1904. Edith Rickert, Reaper, 318. The old folk watched for weatherheads and talked of storms.
1632. Heywood, 2nd Pt. Iron Age, I. i. C 2. And now faire Troian *Weather-hen adew, And when thou next louest, thinke to be more true.
1899. B. Thomas & Granv. Barker (title), The Weather-Hen.
1726. Post-Man, 1–3 Sept., 2/2, Advt. The Gentlemen, Ladies and Farmers famous new invented *Weather Houses.
1784. Cowper, Task, I. 211. Peace to the artist, whose ingenious thought Devis’d the weather-house, that useful toy!
1800. Lathom, Dash of Day, I. i. He is always in bed when I am up, and I am always at rest, when he is stirring; our movements put me in mind of the man and woman in the Dutch weather-house.
1915. ‘Q’ (Quiller-Couch), Nicky-Nan, xiii. 156. A man has no business to stand grimacing in his own doorway … like a figure in a weather-house.
1830. R. Mudie, Pop. Guide Observ. Nature, 302. As little was the injury done at the *‘weather-line,’ just by the surface of the earth, where the durability of timber is put to the severest test.
1888. E[mily] Gerard, Land beyond Forest, II. xxviii. 30, note. Instances of *weather-makers are also common in Germany.
1891. Pall Mall Gaz., 13 Oct., 7/2. A weather-maker for an almanack got into conversation with a shepherd.
1883. Stallybrass, trans. Grimm’s Teut. Mythol., III. 1152. The gift of prophecy and the art of *weather-making.
1545. Ascham, Toxoph., II. (Arb.), 152. Therefore in shootynge there is as muche difference betwixt an archer that is a good *wether man, and an other that knoweth and marketh nothynge, as is betwixte a blynde man and he that can se.
1656. 2nd Ed. New Almanack, 3. If the *weather-mongers rule hold true.
1841. Few Words to Churchwardens, I. (Camb. Camden Soc.), 10. You may see what is called the *weather-moulding of the old roof remaining.
a. 1878. Sir G. Scott, Lect. Archit., I. 165. A hollow projecting moulding containing the foliage, capped by a weather moulding.
1698. Derhan, in Phil. Trans., XX. 4. The *Weather-plates are to be put upon the Frame [of a portable barometer], by setting them to the same height, at which the Mercury stands in a common Barometer.
1866. A. Steinmetz, Weathercasts, 7. The most successful *weather-prophet of modern times, if not of all times, the late lamented Admiral Fitzroy.
1884. S. E. Dawson, Handbk. Dom. Canada, 4. The metaphors of political weather-prophets.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-ropes, an early term for those which were tarred.
1884. Graphic, 13 Dec., 610/3. The New York *‘weathersharps,’ who have to their westward some three thousand miles of land studded with signal stations.
1757. Dyer, in J. Duncombe, Lett. (1773), III. 62. I think I never was so *weather-sick; the deep snows forbid me air and exercise.
1892. Meredith, Ode to Comic Spirit, Poems 1898, II. 222. A statue losing feature, weather-sick.
1856. Mrs. Browning, Aur. Leigh, II. 691. I can tell The *weather-signs of love: you love this man.
1915. W. Sichel, in 19th Cent., Jan., 190. His prophecies [about India] are perpetual, and he read the weather-signs at a glance.
1903. Alice M. Earle, Two Cent. Costume Amer., II. 617. Another name for a safeguard was a *weather-skirt.
1870. Lond. Society, Sept., 266. A … house, *weather-slated from top to bottom.
1859. Jephson, Brittany, xvi. 269. Buildings of lath and plaster, covered on the most exposed parts with *weather-slating.
1632–3. in Willis & Clark, Cambridge (1886), II. 698. The Windowes in ye Roofe, to be of good Oake Timber, with *Wether sparrs handsomely wrought.
c. 1595. Donne, Sat., i. 59. And sooner may a gulling *weather Spie By drawing forth heavens Scheme tell certainly [etc.].
1686. Plot, Staffordsh., 168. It being all of it good *weather-stone, but not enduring the fire.
1839. Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., II. 361/2. A weather fillet, or *weather table, which projects half an inch from the general face of the window.
1906. Antiquary, Jan., 7/2. A weather-table on the north wall.
1875. Knight, Dict. Mech., 2568/2. Siding-tiles are sometimes called *weather-tiles.
1887. Hissey, Holiday on Road, 230. A somewhat quaint little inn, having a *weather-tiled upper story.
1904. A. C. Benson, House of Quiet, iv. One wing is weather-tiled.
1703. [R. Neve], City & C. Purchaser, 286. *Weather-tyling … Is the Tyling, (or Covering with Tyles) the upright Sides of Houses.
1833. Loudon, Encycl. Archit., § 438. The weather-boarding may be covered with what is called weather-tiling.
1847. C. A. Johns, Forest Trees, I. 357, note. I think there will be rain,… for the *weather tree is shewing its white lining.
1721. Bailey, *Weather-vane.
1866. Le Fanu, All in Dark, x. The pointed gables, with stone cornices and glittering weather-vane on the summit.
1896. Tablet, 1 Feb., 167. The Pall Mall Gazette even prefers to regard him as a Royal weather-vane.
1838. Civil Engin. & Arch. Jrnl., I. 235/1. A *weather wall in the centre will run the whole length [of the pier].
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-warning, the telegraphic cautionary warning given by hoisting the storm-drum on receiving the forecast.
1807. W. Irving, Salmagundi (1824), 122. This is the universal remark among the … *weather-wiseacres of the day.
1596. Nashe, Saffron Walden, Ep. Ded. B 3 b. False Prophets, *Weather-wizards, Fortune-tellers.
1652. Gaule, Magastrom., 23. Weather-wizzards, planet-prognosticators, and fortune-spellers!
1776. Cook, 3rd Voy., I. iii. (1784), I. 34. The caulkers were set to work … to caulk the decks and inside *weather-works of the ship.
8. Naut. Used attrib. or as adj. with the sense: Situated on the side that is turned towards the wind; having a direction towards the wind; windward; opposed to lee, leeward adjs.; as weather-anchor, -beam (BEAM sb.1 17), -bowline, -brace, -division, -earing, -gangway, -gun, -leech, -lift, -lurch, -port, -quarter, -rail, -roll, -sheet, -shore, -shrowd, -spoke, -tack, -tide, -topping-lift, -wheel; weather-bow, the bow that is turned towards the wind; hence as v. trans., to turn the weather-bow to; weather-gage, -gauge (see GAUGE sb. 5); hence as v. trans., to keep the weather-gage of; weather-helm, a tendency in a ship under sail to come too near the wind, requiring the tiller to be kept constantly a little to windward. Also (to the) weatherward adv.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-anchor, that lying to windward, by which a ship rides when moored.
1790. Beatson, Nav. & Mil. Mem., II. 140. Two sail … gave us chase and … kept on our *weather-beams till morning.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Weather-beam, a direction at right angles with the keel, on the weather side of the ship.
1626. Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 18. On the *weather bow.
1851. H. Melville, Whale, xvi. 80. Take a peep over the weather-bow … and tell me what ye see there.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, xxxvi. We made but little by *weather-bowing the tide.
1669. Sturmy, Mariner’s Mag., I. 18. Set in the Lee-Braces, and hawl forward by the *Weather Bowlines. Ibid., 17. Let go the … Lee-Braces;… set in your *Weather Braces.
1762–9. Falconer, Shipwr., ii. 308. The sheet and weather-brace they now stand by.
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xxv[i]. ‘A small pull of that weather main-top gallant brace—that will do,’ said the master.
1920. J. H. Rose, in Discovery, Nov., 329/2. Nelson had intended his *weather division to be in line ahead.
1840. R. H. Dana, Bef. Mast, iv. The first [sailor] on the yard goes to the *weather earing, the second to the lee, and the next two to the ‘dog’s ears.’
1834. Marryat, P. Simple, xiii. Walk this boy up and down the *weather gangway.
1892. Field, 2 July, 30/3. Daffodil … was sufficiently far to windward to *weather-gauge her.
1759. Ann. Reg., 120. We … run our *weather-guns out.
1691. T. H[ale], Acc. New Invent., 126. *Weather, or Leeward Helm … may be fitted to promote or hinder the Sailing upon occasion.
1882. Nares, Seamanship (ed. 6), 190. A screw ship carries more weather helm than a sailing ship.
1836. Marryat, Midsh. Easy, xxv[i]. The Aurora dashed through at the rate of eight miles an hour, with her *weather leeches lifting.
1899. F. T. Bullen, Log Sea-waif, 279. The weather-leech of the lower stun’ sails began to flap.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-lurch, a heavy roll to windward.
1809. Sporting Mag., XXXIII. 127. A great sea poured through one of the *weather-ports.
1626. Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 19. Boord him on his *weather quarter.
1743. Bulkeley & Cummins, Voy. S. Seas, 9. The Commodore being on the Weather-Quarter, bore down under our Lee, and spoke with us.
1834. M. Scott, Cruise of Midge, i. (1836), 16. The felucca was now within long pistol-shot of our weather-quarter.
1888. E. J. Mather, Nor’ard of Dogger (1922), 295. We had to hang on to the *weather-rail, the seas rolling along like mountains.
1815. Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Rolls, those inclinations which a ship makes to windward in a heavy sea.
a. 1625. Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict. (1644), 76. If the *weather-sheate be as farre as the Bulkhead.
1851. H. Melville, Whale, xiii. 67. The tremendous strain upon the main-sheet had parted the weather-sheet.
1626. Capt. J. Smith, Accid. Yng. Seamen, 30. Come to an Anchor vnder the Ley of the *weather shore.
1697. J. Puckle, New Dial., 16. A North-West Wind … makes Holland a Lee and England a Weather Shore.
a. 1625. Manwayring, Sea-mans Dict. (1644), 32. Then cutting the *weather shrowdes, the mast will instantly and without danger fall over boord.
1849. Cupples, Green Hand, vi. (1856), 59. I looked to the wheel … as he coolly gave her half a *weather-spoke more.
1883. Man. Seamanship Boys, 56. Haul on the *weather-tack and lee-sheet.
1815. Falconer’s Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Weather-Tide, denotes that which, by setting against a ship’s lee-side, while under sail, forces her up to windward.
1883. Man. Seamanship Boys, 163. The fiddle-block is hooked to the *weather-topping lift.
1557. Towrson, in Hakluyt, Voy. (1589), 127. At night the Minion, and the pinnesse came vp to vs, but could not fetch so farre to the *weatherward as we, and therefore they ankered about a league a wether the castle.
1600. (25 Dec.) Adm. Ct. Exam., 34 (P. R. O.). [A ship] to the weatherward about a league.
1904. Dowden, R. Browning, 73. In the sunset splendour the boat veers weather-ward.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., *Weather-wheel, the position of the man who steers a large ship, from his standing on the weather-side of the wheel.
