'tween deck

American

noun

Nautical.

any space between two continuous decks in the hull of a vessel, as between a shelter deck and a freeboard deck.

'tween deck British

noun

nautical a space between two continuous decks of a vessel

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of 'tween deck

First recorded in 1810–20

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Inside, nearly everything above and below decks was rebuilt or replaced, and a new ’tween deck was sandwiched in between the cargo holds and the main deck, the original having been removed in the 1930s.

From New York Times • Sep. 22, 2016

And Wavertree once again has its ’tween deck, a modest level between the main deck and the cargo hold that had been absent for decades.

From New York Times • May 29, 2016

If my soul had gone out of my body, I’d have left the rolling of the ship, the stench in the closed-up ’tween deck, the rats that sometimes scuttle over my face in the night.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

I am sick of the ’tween deck, sick of sailing, sick of the storms that come one after another.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

Everyone on the ’tween deck is awake in an instant.

From "Blood on the River" by Elisa Carbone

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023