intransitive. Of a ship: to roll or pitch heavily and right itself with difficulty. Cf. labour, v. 7b. Obsolete. rare.

To move up and down or to and fro, as a ship on the waves; to toss, to pitch. Obsolete.

Of a ship: To roll or be tossed on the waves.

intransitive. Of a ship: To pitch or roll heavily at sea.

(See quot. 1625.)

Nautical. to bruise the water and variants: (esp. of a boat with bluff (bluff, adj. 1a) bows) to hit the water with force when travelling forward…

transferred. Of a ship: To move unsteadily and with difficulty; esp. under a press of sail.

intransitive. Shipbuilding. Of a ship: to have the iron plating of the hull bulge in and out with the pressure of waves. Cf. panting, n.1 2. Obsolete.

U.S. and Canadian. Allusively, in colloquial or dialect phrases, etc.

intransitive. Of a ship or boat: to rise and fall heavily in the water.

Nautical. Of a boat: to crash into the trough of a wave, or into the wave itself; to plunge or pitch.