Definitions for: Galley


[n] the area for food preparation on a ship
[n] the kitchen area for food preparation on an airliner
[n] (classical antiquity) a crescent-shaped seagoing vessel propelled by oars
[n] a large medieval vessel with a single deck propelled by sails and oars with guns at stern and prow; a complement of 1,000 men; used mainly in the Mediterranean for war and trading



Webster (1913) Definition: Gal"ley, n.; pl. Galleys. [OE. gale, galeie (cf. OF.
galie, gal['e]e, LL. galea, LGr. ?; of unknown origin.]
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 walfare. 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. [F. gal['e]e; the same word as E. galley a vessel.]
(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.'' --Macaulay.

Galley slice (Print.), a sliding false bottom to a large
galley. --Knight.

Synonyms: caboose, cookhouse, ship's galley

See Also: airliner, cuddy, kitchen, ship, trireme, vessel, watercraft

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