Word of the Day
10 April 2026
fair
adjectiveManufacturing
Without sudden change of direction or curvature; smooth; flowing; said of the figure of a vessel, and of surfaces, water lines, and other lines.
Why this one
A shipyard word for a curve with no kink in it, tested by eye down the length of a line rather than by measurement at a point. Loftsmen, panel beaters and mould makers all still use it that way.
In use
Run your eye along it from the bow end; that sheer line isn't fair yet, there's a flat spot just aft of the third frame.
Written by our editors to show how the term is used, not a recorded quotation.