From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Galley \Gal"ley\, n.; pl. {Galleys}. [OE. gale, galeie (cf. OF.
galie, gal['e]e, LL. galea, LGr. ?; of unknown origin.]
1. (Naut.) A vessel propelled by oars, whether having masts
and sails or not; as:
(a) A large vessel for war and national purposes; --
common in the Middle Ages, and down to the 17th
century.
(b) A name given by analogy to the Greek, Roman, and other
ancient vessels propelled by oars.
(c) A light, open boat used on the Thames by customhouse
officers, press gangs, and also for pleasure.
(d) One of the small boats carried by a man-of-war.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The typical galley of the Mediterranean was from one
hundred to two hundred feet long, often having twenty
oars on each side. It had two or three masts rigged
with lateen sails, carried guns at prow and stern, and
a complement of one thousand to twelve hundred men, and
was very efficient in mediaeval warfare. Galleons,
galliots, galleasses, half galleys, and quarter galleys
were all modifications of this type.
[1913 Webster]
2. The cookroom or kitchen and cooking apparatus of a vessel;
-- sometimes on merchant vessels called the {caboose}.
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3. (Chem.) An oblong oven or muffle with a battery of
retorts; a gallery furnace.
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4. [F. gal['e]e; the same word as E. galley a vessel.]
(Print.)
(a) An oblong tray of wood or brass, with upright sides,
for holding type which has been set, or is to be made
up, etc.
(b) A proof sheet taken from type while on a galley; a
galley proof.
[1913 Webster]
{Galley slave}, a person condemned, often as a punishment for
crime, to work at the oar on board a galley. "To toil like
a galley slave." --Macaulay.
{Galley slice} (Print.), a sliding false bottom to a large
galley. --Knight.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
galley slave
n 1: a slave condemned to row in a galley
2: a laborer who is obliged to do menial work [syn: {drudge},
{peon}, {navvy}, {galley slave}]
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