CUT OF THE JIB. A phrase for the aspect of a vessel, or person. CUT OUT, TO. To attack and carry a vessel by a boat force; one of the most dashing and desperate services practised by Nelson and Cochrane, of which latter that of cutting out the _Esmeralda_ at Callao stands unequalled. CUTTER. A small single-masted, sharp-built broad vessel, commonly navigated in the English Channel, furnished with a straight running bowsprit, occasionally run in horizontally on the deck; except for which, and the largeness of the sails, they are rigged much like sloops. Either clincher or carvel-built, no jib-stay, the jib hoisting and hanging by the halliards alone. She carries a fore-and-aft main-sail, gaff-topsail, stay-foresail, and jib. The name is derived from their fast sailing. The cutter (as H.M.S. _Dwarf_) has been made to set every sail, even royal studding-sails, sky-scrapers, moon-rakers, star-gazers, water and below-water sails, that could be set by any vessel on one mast. One of the largest which has answered effectually, was the _Viper_, of 460 tons and 28 guns; this vessel was very useful during the American war, particularly by getting into Gibraltar at a critical period of the siege. CUTTER-BRIG. A vessel with square sails, a fore-and-aft main-sail, and a jigger-mast with a smaller one. (_See_ KETCH.) CUTTERS of a ship are broader for their length, deeper and shorter in proportion than the barge or pinnace; are fitter for sailing, and commonly employed in carrying light stores, passengers, &c., to and from the ships; some are clench-built. They generally row ten oars; others of similar build only four, which last are termed jolly-boats. The cutters for ships of the line are carvel-built of 25 feet, and fit for anchor work. CUTTER-STAY FASHION. The turning-in of a dead-eye with the end of the shroud down. CUT THE CABLE, TO. A manœuvre sometimes necessary for making a ship cast the right way, or when the anchor cannot be weighed. CUTTIE. A name on our northern coasts for the black guillemot (_Uria grille_). CUTTING. The adjusting of a cask or spar, or turning it round. CUTTING A FEATHER. It is common when a ship has too broad a bow to say, "She will not cut a feather," meaning that she will not pass through the water so swift as to make less foam or froth. CUTTING DOWN. Taking a deck off a ship; as ships of the line are converted into frigates, the _Royal Sovereign_ into a turret ship, &c.--_Cutting down_ is also a dangerous midshipman's trick, and sometimes practised by the men: it consists in cutting the laniard of a cot or hammock in which a person is then asleep, and letting him fall--_lumpus_--either by the head or the feet.