The Collaborative International Dictionary
Shakings \Shak"ings\, n. pl. (Naut.)
Deck sweepings, refuse of cordage, canvas, etc.
--Ham. Nav.
Encyc.
Wiktionary
n. 1 (plural of shaking English) 2 (context nautical English) The sweepings from a ship's deck; the refuse of cordage, canvas, etc.
Usage examples of "shakings".
If every crew can ply their gun brisk and hit the mark, and if we can make sail promptly, I do not give a damn for an occasional heap of shakings pushed under a carronade.
Up and up it went, and peering with half-closed eyes into the glare of the covered sun, he guided it inch by inch, co-ordinating the successive heaves with the pitching of the ship The last half foot, and the whole ship's company held its breath, eyes fixed on the heel of the mast It crept a little higher, the new top-rope creaking in the block and sending down a cloud of shakings then with a jerk and a shudder along its whole length the heel lifted over the top-cap.
Up and down, up and down, and all the time their thin canvas grew thinner in the tropical sun and the sudden prodigious downpours, their running rigging, incessantly passing through the countless blocks as they trimmed sail, gradually wasted away in those wisps called shakings, and the weed accumulated on their bottoms, while through the gaps in their copper the teredos thrust their augers through the oak.
He sang and laughed even more than he had before, and he was even able to venture out onto the streets for several hours at a time before the sweat and shakings began.