ADREAMT. Dozing; the sensation so often combatted with towards the end of a first or a middle watch, it being the state, as an old author has it, "between sleeping and waking." ADRENT, OR ADREYNTE. An old term for _drowned_. ADRIFT. Floating at random; the state of a boat or vessel broken from her moorings, and driven to and fro without control by the winds and waves. Cast loose; cut adrift. ADSCRIPTS. Sometimes used for the tangents of arcs. AD VALOREM. Duties levied on commercial goods, according to their value. ADVANCE, TO. An old word, meaning to raise to honour. ADVANCED POST. A spot of ground seized by a party to secure their front. A piquet or outpost. ADVANCED SQUADRON. One on the look-out.--_Advance_, or _vanguard_, that division of a force which is next the enemy, or which marches before a body.--_Advance fosse_, a ditch of water round the esplanade or glacis of a fortification.--_Advance!_ the order to marines and small-arm men to move forward. ADVANCE-LIST. The register by which two months' wages to the crew are paid, on first commission, and a quarter's to officers. ADVANCEMENT. Promotion to higher rank. ADVANCE MONEY. In men-of-war and most merchant ships the advance of two months' wages is given to the crew, previous to going to sea; the clearing off of which is called _working up the dead horse_. ADVANCE NOTE. A document issued by owners of a ship or their agents, promising to pay a seaman, or to his order, a sum of money in part of his wages, within a certain number of days after he has sailed in the ship. Advance notes are quite negotiable before a seaman has taken his departure. ADVANTAGE, OR VANTAGE-GROUND. That which gives superiority of attack on, or defence against, an enemy; affording means of annoyance or resistance. ADVENTURE. An enterprise in which something is left to hazard.--_A bill of adventure_ is one signed by the merchant, by which he takes the chances of the voyage. ADVERSARY. Generally applied to an enemy, but strictly an opponent in single combat. ADVERSE. The opposite of favourable; as, an _adverse_ wind. ADVICE-BOAT. A small fast-sailing vessel in advance of a fleet, employed to carry intelligence with all possible despatch. They were first used in 1692, to gain tidings of what was transacting in Brest, previous to the battle of La Hogue. ADVOCATE GENERAL. An officer of the High Court of Admiralty, whose duty it is to appear for the lord high-admiral in that court, the court of delegates, or any other wherein his rights are concerned.--_Judge-advocate of the navy_, a law officer appointed to watch over and direct proceedings connected with courts-martial.--_Deputy judge-advocate_, an appointment made by the sudden selection of some secretary, or captain's clerk, to perform the duty at a court-martial (where no legal person is empowered), utterly ignorant of the law or the customs of the naval service.