All 3 Uses of
sever
in
Moby Dick
- Whereupon, this accomplished swordsman, warning all hands to stand off, once more makes a scientific dash at the mass, and with a few sidelong, desperate, lunging slicings, severs it completely in twain; so that while the short lower part is still fast, the long upper strip, called a blanket-piece, swings clear, and is all ready for lowering.†
Chpt 67-69
- When first severed, the head is dropped astern and held there by a cable till the body is stripped.†
Chpt 70-72 *
- After being severed from the whale, the white-horse is first cut into portable oblongs ere going to the mincer.†
Chpt 94-96
Definition:
to end or cut off completely -- either physically or in relationships