ship a sea

ship a sea (third-person singular simple present ships a sea, present participle shipping a sea, simple past and past participle shipped a sea)

1. (nautical) To have a large wave wash over one's vessel.
   • 1724, Daniel Defoe, The Great Law of Subordination Consider’d‎, London, page 134:

     […] Waterman, says I, what are you doing? what did you ship a Sea? ay, says the Waterman, and a great one too; why it blows a Frett of Wind;

   • 1774, David Henry, The Voyages of Captain Cooke in An Historical Account of All the Voyages Round the World, Performed by English Navigators, London: F. Newbery, Volume 2, p. 19,

     Thus we scudded before the wind […] and at nine shipped a sea in the poop, as we in the cabbin were going to supper.

   • 1838, Edgar Allan Poe, The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket‎, New York: Harper, page 81:

     At almost every roll to leeward she shipped a sea, several of which came partially down into the cabin during our scuffle, the hatchway having been left open by myself when I descended.

   • 1883, Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island, London: Cassell, Chapter 24, p. 196,

     Once I shipped a sea so heavy that I had to stop and bail, with my heart fluttering like a bird […]