† ˈclose-fight Naut. Obs.
See quot. 1627, and cf. close-quarters. Also fig.
| 1602 Marston Antonio & Mellida i. i. (N.), How her eyes dart wonder on my heart!.. Stande firme on decke, when beauties close-fight's up. 1622 R. Hawkins Voy. S. Sea (1847) 102 Had we beene able to have spared but a dozen men, doubtlesse we had done with her what we would; for shee had no close fights. 1627 Smith Seaman's Gram. xii. 58 A ships close fights, are smal ledges of wood laid crosse one another like the grates of iron in a prisons window, betwixt the maine mast, and the fore mast, and are called gratings. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Close-quarters or Close-fights. |