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Galley slave   /gˈæli sleɪv/   Listen
noun
Galley  n.  (pl. galleys)  
1.
(Naut.) A vessel propelled by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; as:
(a)
A large vessel for war and national purposes; common in the Middle Ages, and down to the 17th century.
(b)
A name given by analogy to the Greek, Roman, and other ancient vessels propelled by oars.
(c)
A light, open boat used on the Thames by customhouse officers, press gangs, and also for pleasure.
(d)
One of the small boats carried by a man-of-war. Note: The typical galley of the Mediterranean was from one hundred to two hundred feet long, often having twenty oars on each side. It had two or three masts rigged with lateen sails, carried guns at prow and stern, and a complement of one thousand to twelve hundred men, and was very efficient in mediaeval warfare. Galleons, galliots, galleasses, half galleys, and quarter galleys were all modifications of this type.
2.
The cookroom or kitchen and cooking apparatus of a vessel; sometimes on merchant vessels called the caboose.
3.
(Chem.) An oblong oven or muffle with a battery of retorts; a gallery furnace.
4.
(Print.)
(a)
An oblong tray of wood or brass, with upright sides, for holding type which has been set, or is to be made up, etc.
(b)
A proof sheet taken from type while on a galley; a galley proof.
Galley slave, a person condemned, often as a punishment for crime, to work at the oar on board a galley. "To toil like a galley slave."
Galley slice (Print.), a sliding false bottom to a large galley.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Galley slave" Quotes from Famous Books



... long as it lasts. But with all its dangers it is likely to last as long as that of a galley slave. What with bad food and hardship and toil and the taskmaster's whip and the burning sun, a galley slave's life is a short one; while a skilful gladiator may live for many years, and in time save money enough to set up a school as I ...
— Beric the Briton - A Story of the Roman Invasion • G. A. Henty

... lasts. But with all its dangers it is likely to last as long as that of a galley slave. What with bad food and hardship and toil and the taskmaster's whip and the burning sun, a galley slave's life is a short one; while a skilful gladiator may live for many years, and in time save money enough to set up a school ...
— Beric the Briton - A Story of the Roman Invasion • G. A. Henty

... detail the reader may turn to Aleman's Guzman d'Afarache, which contains a first-hand description of the life on board a Mediterranean slave galley, to Archenholtz's Tableau d'Italie of 1788, to Stirling Maxwell's Don John of Austria (1883, i. 95), and more pertinently to passages in the Life of a Galley Slave by Jean Marteilhe (edited by Miss Betham-Edwards in 1895). After serving in the docks at Dunkirk, Marteilhe, as a confirmed protestant, makes the journey in the chain-gang to Marseilles, and is only released after many delays in consequence of the personal interest and ...
— Travels Through France and Italy • Tobias Smollett

... in character, the twins got on remarkably well together, and seldom quarreled more than thrice a day. Of course, Demi tyrannized over Daisy, and gallantly defended her from every other aggressor, while Daisy made a galley slave of herself, and adored her brother as the one perfect being in the world. A rosy, chubby, sunshiny little soul was Daisy, who found her way to everybody's heart, and nestled there. One of the captivating children, ...
— Little Women • Louisa May Alcott

... particular social circle where she moves—while he, poor wretch, is perforce tongue-tied, and dare not consider himself wronged. There is no more pitiable object in the world than such a man—secretly derided and jeered at by his fellows, he occupies an almost worse position than that of a galley slave, while in his own esteem he has sunk so low that he dare not, even in secret, try to fathom the depth to which he has fallen. Some may assert that to be divorced is a social stigma. It used to be so perhaps, but society has grown very lenient nowadays. Divorced women hold their ...
— Vendetta - A Story of One Forgotten • Marie Corelli



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