ASPIRANT DE MARINE. Midshipman in the French navy. ASPORTATION. The carrying of a vessel or goods illegally. ASSAIL, TO. To attack, leap upon, board, &c. ASSAULT. A hostile attack. The effort to storm a place, and gain possession of a post by main force. ASSEGAI. The spear used by the Kaffirs in South Africa; it is frequently feather-bent to revolve in its flight. ASSEGUAY. The knife-dagger used in the Levant. ASSEMBLY. That long roll beat of the drum by which soldiers, or armed parties, are ordered to repair to their stations. It is sometimes called the _fall-in_. ASSES'-BRIDGE. The well-known name of prop. 5, b. i. of Euclid, the difficulty of which makes many give in. ASSIEGE, TO. To besiege, to invest or beset with an armed force. ASSIGNABLE. Any finite geometrical ratio, or magnitude that can be marked out or denoted. ASSILAG. The name given in the Hebrides to a small sea-bird with a black bill. The stormy petrel. ASSISTANCE. Aid or help: strongly enjoined to be given whenever a signal is made requiring it. ASSISTANT-SURGEON. The designation given some years ago to those formerly called "surgeon's mates," and considered a boon by the corps. ASSORTMENT. The arrangement of goods, tools, &c., in a series. ASSURANCE. (_See_ MARINE INSURANCE.) Conveyance or deed: in which light Shakspeare makes Tranio say that his father will "pass assurance." ASSURGENT. A heraldic term for a man or beast rising out of the sea. ASSUROR. He who makes out the policy of assurance for a ship: he is not answerable for the neglect of the master or seamen. A-STARBOARD. The opposite to _a-port_. A-STAY. Said of the anchor when, in heaving in, the cable forms such an angle with the surface as to appear in a line with the stays of the ship.--_A long stay_ apeek is when the cable forms an acute angle with the water's surface, or coincides with the main-stay--_short stay_ when it coincides with the fore-stay. ASTELLABRE. The same as _astrolabe_. ASTERIA. _See_ SEA-STAR. ASTERISM. Synonymous with _constellation_, a group of stars. ASTERN. Any distance behind a vessel; in the after-part of the ship; in the direction of the stern, and therefore the opposite of _ahead_.--_To drop astern_, is to be left behind,--when abaft a right angle to the keel at the main-mast, she drops astern. ASTEROIDS. The name by which the minor planets between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars were proposed to be distinguished by Sir W. Herschel. They are very small bodies, which have all been discovered since the commencement of the present century; yet their present number is over eighty. ASTRAGAL. A moulding formerly round a cannon, at a little distance from its breech, the _cascabel_, and another near the muzzle. It is a half round on a flat moulding. ASTRAL. Sidereal, relating to the stars.