Harping iron

Same as HARPOON, q. v. Harpings, n. pl. ( Naut.) In a ship, those planks or wales, forming her outer skin, which bend in towards the bow, and are fastened in the stern; they hold the timbers of the fore-and-aft cant-bodies till the ship is planked. They are made thicker than other parts of the wales, to encounter the great resistance offered by the water as the ship cuts through it. Cat-harpings, minor ropes between the tops and mastheads, employed to draw the shrouds together and inwards towards the mast. They serve to tighten the shrouds, and to give freer play to the yards and sails when braced for on either tack.