"Of a' the _airts_ the wind can blaw, I dearly love the west." AIRY. Breezy. AKEDOWN. A form of the term _acton_, as a defensive dress. ALABLASTER. An arbalist or cross-bow man; also the corruption of _alabaster_. ALAMAK. The name given in nautical astronomy to that beautiful double star _Anak al ard_ of the Arabians, or γ Andromedæ. ALAMOTTIE. The _Procellaria pelagica_, or Storm-finch; Mother Cary's chicken, or stormy petrel. ALAND. A term formerly used for to the shore, on shore, or to land. ALARM, ALARUM [from the Italian _all'armi!_] An apprehension from sudden noise or report. The drum or signal by which men are summoned to stand on their guard in time of danger.--_False alarm_ is sometimes occasioned by a timid or negligent sentry, and at others designedly by an officer, to ascertain the promptness of his men. Sometimes false alarms are given by the enemy to harass the adversary. Old Rider defines _alarm_ as a "watch-word shewing the neernesse of the enemies." ALARM-POST. A place appointed for troops to assemble, in case of a sudden alarm. ALBACORE. A fish of the family _Scombridæ_, found in shoals in the ocean; it is about 5 or 6 feet long, with an average weight of nearly 100 lbs. when fine. ALBANY BEEF. A name for the sturgeon of the Hudson River, where it is taken in quantity for commerce. ALBATROSS. A large, voracious, long-winged sea-bird, belonging to the genus _Diomedea_; very abundant in the Southern Ocean and the Northern Pacific, though said to be rarely met with within the tropics. ALBION. An early name of England, from the whiteness of the eastern coast cliffs. ALBURNUM. The sap-wood of timber, commonly termed the slab-cuts. ALCAID. A governor, or officer of justice, amongst the Moors, Spaniards, and Portuguese. ALCATRAZ. The pelican. Alcatraz Island is situated in the mouth of the river San Francisco, in California, so named from its being covered with these birds. Also Alcatraz on the coast of Africa, from _Pelecanus sula_--booby. Columbus mentions the alcatraz when nearing America, and Drayton says-- "Most like to that sharp-sighted _alcatras_, That beats the air above the liquid glass." ALDEBARAN. The lucida of Taurus, the well-known nautical star, popularly called Bull's-eye. A-LEE. The contrary of _a-weather_: the position of the helm when its tiller is borne over to the lee-side of the ship, in order to go about or put her head to windward.--_Hard a-lee!_ or _luff a-lee!_ is said to the steersman to put the helm down.--_Helm's a-lee!_ the word of command given on putting the helm down, and causing the head-sails to shake in the wind. ALEMAYNE. The early name for Germany. ALERT. On the look-out, and ready for any sudden duty. Nearly synonymous with _alarm_. _Alerto_--called frequently by Spanish sentinels. ALEWIFE. The _Clupea alosa_, a fish of the herring kind, which appears in the _Philosophical Transactions_ for 1678, as the _aloofe_; the corruption therefore was a ready one.