Dictionary

fo'c'sle en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• fōkʹsəl
• /ˈfəʊk.səl/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Contraction of forecastle.

Meanings

1. (informal) forecastle.
   • We loafed moodily about the well-deck, between the fo'c'sle and the high midship bridge structure […] "When shall we get something to eat?" I asked Boldini, as he emerged from the fo'c'sle hatch. 1924 October, Percival Christopher Wren, “The Gay Romantics”, in Beau Geste, London: John Murray, →OCLC; republished London: John Murray, […], February 1928, →OCLC, part II (The Mystery of the “Blue Water”), § 5, pages 197–198:
   • In the stewards’ fo’c’sle were all sorts and conditions of men; including a Victorian known as ‘Chook’. 1933, Frank Clune, Try Anything Once, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, page 147:

Forms