catch-bolt

Updated: August 7, 2026

The apparatus is kept in its place by what is called a slip-stopper, a sort of catch-bolt or detent, which can be unlocked at pleasure, by merely pulling a trigger. Upon withdrawing the stopper, the whole machine slips along the rods, and falls at once into the ship's wake.

Basil Hall - The Lieutenant and Commander : Being Autobigraphical Sketches of His Own Career, from Fragments of Voyages and Travels