sheer-battenn.(a) see quot. 1867;(b) in ship-building, ‘a strip nailed to the ribs to indicate the position of the wales or bends preparatory to those planks being bolted on’ (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1875).
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1867 W. H. Smyth & E. BelcherSailor's Word-bk.Sheer-batten, a batten stretched horizontally along the shrouds, and seized firmly above each of their dead-eyes, serving to prevent the dead-eyes from turning at that part.