Gal"ley (?), n.; pl.
Galleys (#). [OE. gale, galeie (cf.
OF. galie, galée, LL. galea, LGr. ?; of
unknown origin.] 1. (Naut.) A vessel
propelled by oars, whether having masts and sails or not; as:
(a) A large vessel for war and national
purposes; -- common in the Middle Ages, and down to the 17th
century. (b) A name given by analogy to
the Greek, Roman, and other ancient vessels propelled by oars.
(c) A light, open boat used on the Thames by
customhouse officers, press gangs, and also for pleasure.
(d) One of the small boats carried by a man-of-
war.
☞ The typical galley of the Mediterranean was from one
hundred to two hundred feet long, often having twenty oars on each
side. It had two or three masts rigged with lateen sails, carried
guns at prow and stern, and a complement of one thousand to twelve
hundred men, and was very efficient in mediaeval warfare. Galleons,
galliots, galleasses, half galleys, and quarter galleys were all
modifications of this type.
2. The cookroom or kitchen and cooking
apparatus of a vessel; -- sometimes on merchant vessels called the
caboose.
3. (Chem.) An oblong oven or muffle
with a battery of retorts; a gallery furnace.
4. [F. galée; the same word as E.
galley a vessel.] (Print.) (a) An
oblong tray of wood or brass, with upright sides, for holding type
which has been set, or is to be made up, etc.
(b) A proof sheet taken from type while on a
galley; a galley proof.
Galley slave, a person condemned, often as a
punishment for crime, to work at the oar on board a galley. "To
toil like a galley slave." Macaulay.-- Galley
slice (Print.), a sliding false bottom to a
large galley. Knight.