▪ I. shipwreck, n.
(ˈʃɪprɛk)
Also 2–3 wrec(h, 5–6 -wrak, 6 -wre(a)ke, 6–7 -wra(c)ke, 6–8 -wrack, 7 -rack; 6 shipswrack.
[f. ship n.1 + wreck n.
For the form shiprack (cf. also 1671 in shipwrecking ppl. a.) see rack n.5]
1. What is cast up from a wreck; the remains of a wrecked vessel; wreckage. In later use chiefly fig.
| ? a 1100 Charter in Dugdale Monast. (1655) I. 237/1 Cum omni maris projectu, quod nos Anglicè Shipwrec appellamus. Ibid. 237/2 Quæcunque maris procellosis tempestatibus in aquam, vel in terram eorum ejecta fuerint, quod Anglicè Shipwrech promulgatum est onomate. 1248 Libertates Regni Majoricar. (Du Cange s.v. Naufragium), Navim fractam, quæ ad littus a mari ejicitur, quod Angli Shipwrech vocant, id est, wreccum de navibus. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. D 2 b, The Sea-monsters,..whom they haue suborned and inspyred to lye in wayte for Shipswrack. 1649 Milton Eikon. ii. 25 Gentlemen indeed;..the spawn and shiprack of Taverns and Dicing Houses. 1667 Davenant & Dryden Tempest ii, Heav'n will drive the Shipwracks ashore to make us all rich. 1685 Dryden Alb. & Alb. Pref., Postscr., By gathering up the shipwrecks of the Athenian and Roman theatres. |
2. Destruction or loss of a ship by its being sunk or broken up by the violence of the sea, or by its striking or stranding upon a rock or shoal. † to make shipwreck (cf. L. naufragium facere, F. faire naufrage): see make v.1 64.
| c 1450 Mirk's Festial 70, I haue..þryse ben yn schipwrak on þe see. 1526 Tindale 2 Cor. xi. 25, I suffred thryse ship⁓wracke. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Naufragium, Pati naufragium, to haue shipwrecke. 1599 Hakluyt Voy. II. i. 144 If by any casualtie their shippes shall bee driuen on shoare in perill of shipwracke. 1621 Burton Anat. Mel. i. iv. i. i. 277 A ship that is voide of a Pilot, must needs impinge vpon the next rock or sands, and suffer shipwrack. 1694 E. Phillips tr. Milton's Lett. State 72 Such Ships and Goods as shall be cast ashore by Shipwrack. c 1720 Swift Hist. Eng. an. 1135, Having..very narrowly escaped shipwreck in his passage from Normandy into England. 1882 Encycl. Brit. XIV. 572/1 The wants of sailors and others saved from shipwreck. |
| attrib. and Comb. 1611 Cotgr., Naufrageux,..shipwrack-bringing. 1864 Browning J. Lee's Wife ii. i, Is all our fire of Shipwreck wood? |
b. An instance of this.
| a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 125 Where you say that you haue found landes I say those landes found you by shipwrekes of the sea. 1565 Cooper Thesaurus, Naufragus, he that is scaped after a shippewreake. 1633 G. Herbert Temple, Ch. Porch viii, All in a shipwrack shift their severall way. 1692 L'Estrange Fables cccclxxvi. 449 In the Hurry of the Shipwreck,..Simonides was the only Man that appear'd Unconcern'd. 1864 Tennyson En. Ard. 15 A rough sailor's lad Made orphan by a winter shipwreck. 1891 Farrar Darkness & Dawn lx, When some of his precious effects had been lost in a shipwreck, he told his friends that the fishes would bring them back to him. |
† c. transf. of drowning. Obs.
| 1680 Morden Geog. Rect., Turkey (1685) 354 Icaria..remarkable for the Shipwrack of Icarus. |
3. fig. Destruction, total loss or ruin: often with literal phraseology retained. † to make shipwreck: to come to destruction.
| 1526 Tindale 1 Tim. i. 19 Havynge fayth and good conscience, which some have put awaye from them, and as concernynge fayth have made shipwracke. 1549 Latimer 2nd Serm. bef. Edw. VI (Arb.) 47 After so manifold..shyp wrackes of religion,..whereas the ambitious..prelates..ruleth the sterne [etc.]. 1566 T. Stapleton Ret. Untr. Jewel iv. 144 A generall shipwrake of the Popes uniuersall power. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. v. 8 So am I driuen by breath of her Renowne, Either to suffer Shipwracke, or arriue Where I may haue fruition of her Loue. 1620 Granger Div. Logike 41 This shipwracke, which Adam brought vpon himselfe, and chiefly his posterity. 1641 Quarles Enchir. ii. xxxii. (1654) I 2, Let the Shipwrack of his Understanding be a Sea-mark to thy Passion. 1655 Jer. Taylor Guide Devot. (1719) 120 The only Plank left me in the Shipwrack of my Soul. 1719 De Foe Crusoe ii. (Globe) 593 The Shipwreck of our Fortunes. 1850 W. Irving Mahomet II. xi. 102 The..ability with which..he..preserved the scarcely launched empire of Islam from perfect shipwreck. 1891 Farrar Darkness & Dawn xxii, Agrippina was..maddened by the shipwreck of her ambition. 1892 Speaker 3 Sept. 289/1 Boys with an unsullied heart, and bright wits like his, have come miserably to ship⁓wreck before now. |
4. to make shipwreck of (arch.): a. To suffer the loss of.
to make shipwreck of a good conscience (with allusion to 1 Tim. i. 19, see quot. 1526 in sense 3) was formerly freq.
| 1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Discipline (Arb.) 4 He shalbe molested, till..by your tyrannous dealing, hee haue made shipwrack of a good conscience. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 7 Such..Did..make shipwracke violent, Both of their life, and fame. 1631 Sanderson Serm. (1674) II. 14 When we have made shipwrack of our Consciences, we fall into the hands of God. 1683 Kennett tr. Erasm. on Folly 60 They have thrown away their whole Estate, and made shipwrack of all they have. 1784 Cowper Task iii. 58 Forsaking thee, what shipwreck have we made Of honour, dignity, and fair renown! 1799 H. More Fem. Educ. (ed. 4) I. 14 In the company of certain women of good fashion and no ill fame, he makes shipwreck of his religion. c 1800 H. K. White Rem. (1837) 348 Lest I should make shipwreck of my hope. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. xiv. 284 He who..leaves this force out of account, cannot but make utter shipwreck of his whole linguistic philosophy. |
b. To bring to destruction or total ruin.
| 1577–87 Harrison England i. ii. vi. 166 It was not long yer open shipwracke was made of this religious obseruation. 1825 Scott Talism. viii, Worthy were I to die like a dog, did I proceed rashly..and make shipwreck of the weal of Christendom. |
▪ II. ˈshipwreck, a. rare.
= shipwrecked.
The phr. to go shipwreck is probably modelled on to go bankrupt.
| 1573 Satir. Poems Reform. xli. 144 Ȝe wer bot schipwrak but reskew. 1598 Marlowe Hero & Leander 164 The shipwracke treasure. 1603 Florio Montaigne ii. xii. 262 Like a shipwracke ship-boy cast from Sease. 1912 D. Crawford Thinking Black i. 5 All their colonies have gone shipwreck. |
▪ III. ˈshipwreck, v.
(ˈʃɪprɛk)
[f. shipwreck n.]
1. a. trans. To cause (a person) to suffer shipwreck; chiefly pass. to suffer shipwreck; also, to cause the loss of (goods) by shipwreck.
| 1589 Greene Menaphon (1616) 15 Samela is shipwracked. 1613–16 W. Browne Brit. Past. ii. i. 3 Rockes that vnder water hidden lay, To shipwracke passengers. 1624 Sanderson Serm. (1674) I. 224 Such a storme..hath..shipwrack'd our wares. 1643 Sir T. Browne Relig. Med. 137, I have been shipwrackt, yet am not enemy with the Sea or Winds. 1703 Rowe Ulysses iii. i, Shipwrack'd I floated on a driving Mast. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World 367 Those..thus voluntarily shipwrecked themselves rather than fall into our hands. 1823 Wordsw. Misc. P., To Lady Fleming 69 Compared With him who..shipwrecked, kindles on the coast False fires, that others may be lost. |
b. To wreck (a vessel). Now rare.
| 1624 Heywood Gunaik. viii. 400 It is written of him..that..he would..by his Inchantments raise stormes to shipwrecke the vessells of his enemies. 1647 Cowley Mistr., Resolved to be beloved iv, Then may my Vessel torn and shipwrackt be, If it put forth again to Sea. 1671 Milton Samson 198, I..Who like a foolish Pilot have shipwrack't, My Vessel trusted to me from above? 1725 De Foe Voy. round World ii. 164 Our little Float was shipwreck'd. |
c. transf. and fig.
| 1599 Sir J. Davies Hymns Astrea xxii, No doubt our State will Ship-wrackt be. 1613 Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. i. 149 Where are now your Fortunes? Shipwrack'd vpon a Kingdome, where..no Kindred weepe for me? 1631 Sanderson Serm. (1674) II. 14 When our good names are ship⁓wrackt. 1667 Decay Chr. Piety xi. §8 To shipwrack the faith of these weak unstable souls. 1721 Amherst Terræ Fil. xxxi. 167 Men, who have ship-wreck'd their fortunes as well as their reputations upon this rock. 1820 Shelley Witch Atl. liv, Those wandering isles of aëry dew, Which highest shoals of mountain shipwreck not. 1829 Scott Anne of G. xiii, The peace which the excellent man desires for the land of his fathers will be shipwrecked. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) I. 313 The next definition..is shipwrecked on a refined distinction between the state and the act. |
2. intr. To suffer shipwreck. Also fig. Obs. or arch.
| 1607 Chapman Bussy d'Ambois i. i, Wee shall shipwracke in our safest Port. c 1622 Interpreter in Arber Engl. Garner VI. 234 A Puritan is he, which grieves to think Religion should in France shipwreck and sink. 1649 Jer. Taylor Gt. Exemp. ii. Disc. ix. §34 Like the Apostles in a storme, we should awaken Christ and call to him for aide, least we shipwrack in so violent passions. 1822 Scott Nigel xiii, Your fortunes shall not shipwreck upon the same coast. 1880 Disraeli Endym. lxv, All the married heiresses I have known have shipwrecked. 1932 J. Buchan Gap in Curtain iii. 153 His only success was with me, for I..could talk to him about..the inaccuracies of the Greville Memoirs. But the real rock on which the thing shipwrecked was Protection. |