channel plate

English

Noun

channel plate (plural channel plates)

1. (nautical, now historical) An iron plate or link fastened under a channel, to which a mast is secured. [from 19th c.]
   • 1874, Marcus Clarke, For the Term of His Natural Life, Penguin, published 2009, page 250:

     “[W]e left the brig at sundown, lying with her channel plates nearly under water.”