(n. pl.) A frame of two strong timbers fixed perpendicularly in the fore part of a ship, on which to fasten the cables as the ship rides at anchor, or in warping. Other bitts are used for belaying (belaying bitts), for sustaining the windlass (carrick bitts, winch bitts, or windlass bitts), to hold the pawls of the windlass (pawl bitts) etc.
Example Sentences:
(1) We have isolated and sequenced cDNAs for S2- and S3-alleles of the self-incompatibility locus (S-locus) in Solanum chacoense Bitt., a wild potato species displaying gametophytic self-incompatibility.
(2) In the treated animals the tick lesions were insignificant, lacking the collagen destruiction found in untreated hosts, bitt the ticks engorged normally.
Crossbeam
Definition:
(n.) A girder.
(n.) A beam laid across the bitts, to which the cable is fastened when riding at anchor.