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thrum-cap
[< thrum cap a cap of cloth embroidered with thrums (waste ends of the warp); see 1958 quote]
Esp. Atlantic Provinces, Obs. (except in place names)
DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
Entry from the DCHP-1 (pre-1967)
This entry may contain outdated or offensive information, terms, and examples.
n.
a small island, especially one having a conical appearance with a tuft of trees in the centre; also a shoal of similar shape.
Quotations
1832
Opposite to this point an islet or thrum-cap, (as these are termed), was once considered available for the purpose of drawing fish. . . .
1832
Another thrum-cap island contiguous to the above is of no value whatever.
1934
And on the outer Thrum Cap shoal he ran her hard aground.
1958
The toponymic frequency of thrumcap is due to the ubiquity of a type of headgear [worn] among sailors of the Maine and Canadian coasts a century and a half ago and the presence of certain islands resembling it in shape and appearance.