The Collaborative International Dictionary
Gallery \Gal"ler*y\, n.; pl. Galleries. [F. galerie, It. galleria, fr. LL. galeria gallery, perh. orig., a festal hall, banquetting hall; cf. OF. galerie a rejoicing, fr. galer to rejoice. Cf. Gallant, a.]
A long and narrow corridor, or place for walking; a connecting passageway, as between one room and another; also, a long hole or passage excavated by a boring or burrowing animal.
A room for the exhibition of works of art; as, a picture gallery; hence, also, a large or important collection of paintings, sculptures, etc.
A long and narrow platform attached to one or more sides of public hall or the interior of a church, and supported by brackets or columns; -- sometimes intended to be occupied by musicians or spectators, sometimes designed merely to increase the capacity of the hall.
(Naut.) A frame, like a balcony, projecting from the stern or quarter of a ship, and hence called stern gallery or quarter gallery, -- seldom found in vessels built since 1850.
(Fort.) Any communication which is covered overhead as well as at the sides. When prepared for defense, it is a defensive gallery.
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(Mining) A working drift or level.
Whispering gallery. See under Whispering.
Usage examples of "stern gallery".
Nonsuch's stern was almost against Harvey's quarter, but some capable officer already had two spars out from the stern gallery to boom her off.
He had even forgotten that the ship had been cleared for action, so that in his search for privacy he had to sit in his hammock chair at the end of the stern gallery, just out of sight from the stern windows, while the men were replacing the bulkheads and securing the guns.
The wherry swung round under the Sutherland's stern trust those men to know how a boat should be laid alongside a ship of war giving Hornblower a sight of the stern gallery which constituted to Hornblower one of the most attractive points about the ship.
Another burst from her poop carronades and she was round, close-hauled, presenting her stern to a raking fire from the frigate's remaining guns - two more were dismounted and one had burst - a fire that smashed in her stern gallery.
She took Zelda's hand and stepped out onto the narrow stern gallery.
Even without the aid of a lantern, the stern gallery windows would have allowed enough illumination from the snow-shrouded night to verify that the compartment was empty save for its rich appointments.