deadlight — English Dictionary

Noun

1. A strong (often wooden) shutter fitted over a porthole, that can be closed in bad weather to keep water out and discourage the glass windows from breaking.

2. A deck prism, a device to allow light into the cabin of boat through the deck.

3. An eye.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Figurative

   Examples

   Here you comes and tells me of it plain; and here I let him give us all the slip before my blessed deadlights!

4. An eyelid.

   Usage

   • Archaic
   • Figurative

   Examples

   More examples (1)

   He had one hand on the bounce bottle—and he'd never let go of that since he got back to the table—but he had a handkerchief in the other and was swabbing his deadlights with it.

Noun

1. a strong shutter over a ship's porthole that is closed in stormy weather

   Broader terms

   shutter