What is "a ship's husband"

Husband \Hus"band\, n. [OE. hosebonde, husbonde, a husband, the master of the house or family, AS. h?sbonda master of the house; h?s house + bunda, bonda, householder, husband; prob. fr. Icel. h?sb[=o]ndi house master, husband; h?s house + b?andi dwelling, inhabiting, p. pr. of b?a to dwell; akin to AS. b?an, Goth. bauan. See House Be, and cf. Bond a slave, Boor.]

1. The male head of a household; one who orders the economy of a family. [Obs.]

2. A cultivator; a tiller; a husbandman. [Obs.]
   --Shak.

   The painful husband, plowing up his ground.
   --Hakewill.

   He is the neatest husband for curious ordering his domestic and field accommodations.
   --Evelyn.

3. One who manages or directs with prudence and economy; a frugal person; an economist. [R.]

   God knows how little time is left me, and may I be a good husband, to improve the short remnant left me.
   --Fuller.

4. A married man; a man who has a wife; -- the correlative to wife.

   The husband and wife are one person in law.
   --Blackstone.

5. The male of a pair of animals. [R.]
   --Dryden.

   A ship's husband (Naut.), an agent representing the owners of a ship, who manages its expenses and receipts.