Naut. [app. a. Da. or Sw. bru, ON. brú bridge.] (See quot.)

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1867.  Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Brow, an inclined plane of planks, on one or both sides of a ship, to communicate internally; a stage-gangway for the accommodation of the shipwrights, in conveying plank, timber, and weighty articles on board…. An old term for a gang-board.

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1875.  Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket-bk., vii. (ed. 2), 272. Plank … to form a brow to the shore.

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1882.  Standard, 20 Oct., 6/1. The horses were … walked from deck to deck by ‘brows’ … and from the deck to the wharf down a third ‘brow.’

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