Dictionary

gannet's bath en · NOUN

Etymology

Calque of Old English ganotes bæþ, from ganotes (“gannet (possessive singular)”) + bæþ (“bath”).

Meanings

1. (literary, qualifier:kenning) The ocean; the open sea.
   • But steers his longship on that fated path, As dauntless as when first he took the helm And, standing out across the gannets’ bath, Subdued the viking's realm. 1894, Albany F. Major, Sagas and Songs of the Norsemen, London: David Nutt, page 33:
   • [A]cross the gannet’s bath, over the broad sea, whorled prows will bring presents and tokens. 1999, Seamus Heaney, Beowulf, London: Faber and Faber, page 60:
   • The loss would be greater than the gain to the web-footed race that come over the “gannets’ bath,” though a very desirable causeway to the “Belles Poules,” the Gallic birds, who might wish to come in too great numbers. 1866 September 8, Once A Week, London, page 265, column 1:

Forms

Synonyms

whale-road · whale's way · swan's road