half-minuten.
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The half of a minute; a space of thirty seconds; also half a minute n.
Compounds
attrib. and Comb., as half-minute gun; half-minute glass n. (Naut.) a sand-glass which determines the time for the running out of the log-line.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > navigational aids > [noun] > device to ascertain ship's speed through water > timer
half-minute glass1690
log-glass1814
1690 T. Burnet Theory of Earth iii. 41 To calculate..an eclipse, to minutes and half-minutes.
1708 Life N. Frowde (1773) 140 Half minute Guns were fired the whole Time, and every other Honour shewn to his Memory.
1717 tr. A. F. Frézier Voy. South-Sea 7 To answer the Half-minute Glass.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. at Glass, Half-minute and quarter-minute glasses, used to ascertain the rate of the ship's velocity measured by the log.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1898; most recently modified version published online December 2015).
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