The Collaborative International Dictionary
Breeches \Breech"es\ (br[i^]ch"[e^]z), n. pl. [OE. brech, brek, AS. br[=e]k, pl. of br[=o]c breech, breeches; akin to Icel. br[=o]k breeches, ODan. brog, D. broek, G. bruch; cf. L. bracae, braccae, which is of Celtic origin. Cf. Brail.]
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A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes.
His jacket was red, and his breeches were blue.
--Coleridge. -
Trousers; pantaloons. [Colloq.]
Breeches buoy, in the life-saving service, a pair of canvas breeches depending from an annular or beltlike life buoy which is usually of cork. This contrivance, inclosing the person to be rescued, is hung by short ropes from a block which runs upon the hawser stretched from the ship to the shore, and is drawn to land by hauling lines.
Breeches pipe, a forked pipe forming two branches united at one end.
Knee breeches, breeches coming to the knee, and buckled or fastened there; smallclothes.
To wear the breeches, to usurp the authority of the husband; -- said of a wife. [Colloq.]
Buoy \Buoy\ (bwoi or boi; 277), n. [D. boei buoy, fetter, fr.
OF. boie, buie, chain, fetter, F. bou['e]e a buoy, from L.
boia. ``Boiae genus vinculorum tam ferreae quam ligneae.''
--Festus. So called because chained to its place.] (Naut.)
A float; esp. a floating object moored to the bottom, to mark
a channel or to point out the position of something beneath
the water, as an anchor, shoal, rock, etc.
Anchor buoy, a buoy attached to, or marking the position of, an anchor.
Bell buoy, a large buoy on which a bell is mounted, to be rung by the motion of the waves.
Breeches buoy. See under Breeches.
Cable buoy, an empty cask employed to buoy up the cable in rocky anchorage.
Can buoy, a hollow buoy made of sheet or boiler iron, usually conical or pear-shaped.
Life buoy, a float intended to support persons who have fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to save them.
Nut buoy or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end.
To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor.
Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown by the action of the waves.
Wiktionary
n. a ring lifebuoy, fitted with canvas breeches, rigged between ship and shore, for rescuing seamen when a ship is in danger of breaking up; also used for transferring people from ship to ship at sea
WordNet
n. a life buoy in the form of a ring with short breeches for support; used to transfer people from a ship
Wikipedia
A breeches buoy is a crude rope-based rescue device used to extract people from wrecked vessels, or to transfer people from one location to another in situations of danger. The device resembles a round emergency personal flotation device with a leg harness attached. It is similar to a zip line.The breeches buoy was usually deployed from either ship to ship, or ship to shore using a rocket, kite system, or a lyle gun, and allowed single person evacuations. A line is attached to the ship, and the person being rescued is pulled to shore in the breeches buoy which rides the line similar to a zip line.
Usage examples of "breeches buoy".
It was equipped with a breeches buoy, which splashed a few yards away from Frank.
Vilkas in his breeches buoy swung aside and upward, beyond the menace of the crashing starlet kite Seconds later he wafted gently to earth.
Sometimes they were able to fire rockets with a line attached and rig up a breeches buoy.
Koeltas came back with a small rocket line-gun, the sort of thing for firing a light line to rig a breeches buoy.