Found 2 items, similar to breeches buoy.
English → English (WordNet) Definition: breeches buoy breeches buoy n : a life buoy in the form of a ring with short breeches for support; used to transfer people from a ship
English → English (gcide) Definition: Breeches buoy Breeches \Breech"es\ (br[i^]ch"[e^]z), n. pl. [OE. brech, brek, AS. br[=e]k, pl. of br[=o]c breech, breeches; akin to Icel. br[=o]k breeches, ODan. brog, D. broek, G. bruch; cf. L. bracae, braccae, which is of Celtic origin. Cf. Brail.] 1. A garment worn by men, covering the hips and thighs; smallclothes. [1913 Webster] His jacket was red, and his breeches were blue. --Coleridge. [1913 Webster] 2. Trousers; pantaloons. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] Breeches buoy, in the life-saving service, a pair of canvas breeches depending from an annular or beltlike life buoy which is usually of cork. This contrivance, inclosing the person to be rescued, is hung by short ropes from a block which runs upon the hawser stretched from the ship to the shore, and is drawn to land by hauling lines. Breeches pipe, a forked pipe forming two branches united at one end. Knee breeches, breeches coming to the knee, and buckled or fastened there; smallclothes. To wear the breeches, to usurp the authority of the husband; -- said of a wife. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] Buoy \Buoy\ (bwoi or boi; 277), n. [D. boei buoy, fetter, fr. OF. boie, buie, chain, fetter, F. bou['e]e a buoy, from L. boia. “Boiae genus vinculorum tam ferreae quam ligneae.” --Festus. So called because chained to its place.] (Naut.) A float; esp. a floating object moored to the bottom, to mark a channel or to point out the position of something beneath the water, as an anchor, shoal, rock, etc. [1913 Webster] Anchor buoy, a buoy attached to, or marking the position of, an anchor. Bell buoy, a large buoy on which a bell is mounted, to be rung by the motion of the waves. Breeches buoy. See under Breeches. Cable buoy, an empty cask employed to buoy up the cable in rocky anchorage. Can buoy, a hollow buoy made of sheet or boiler iron, usually conical or pear-shaped. Life buoy, a float intended to support persons who have fallen into the water, until a boat can be dispatched to save them. Nut buoy or Nun buoy, a buoy large in the middle, and tapering nearly to a point at each end. To stream the buoy, to let the anchor buoy fall by the ship's side into the water, before letting go the anchor. Whistling buoy, a buoy fitted with a whistle that is blown by the action of the waves. [1913 Webster]