Naut.
1. The position of ships in a column when each successive vessel has its bows abaft the beam of the one in front, and a little to one side.
1875. Bedford, Sailor’s Pocket Bk., i. (ed. 2), 22. A Column is said to be in Quarter Line when the ships are ranged in one line abaft each others’ beam, but not right astern.
2. a. A line from a vessel’s quarter.
1886. R. C. Leslie, Sea-painter’s Log, vii. 146. The quarter-line is cast overboard.
b. An additional line fastened to the underside of a seine to assist in drawing it in (Cent. Dict.).
