DCHP-1 Online
berth 
1 n. Lumbering a tract of forested land the bounds of which have been established by the government, which leases or sells the rights to fell and remove timber.
See also: timber limit (def. 1a)
- 1853 I have seen licenses granted covering both sides of a river, in defiance of the regulations which say "berths to be confined to one side of rivers wherever practicable".
- 1962 These occupied forests consist of private timber land and government land under various forms of tenure, such as timber leases, licences, berths, and sales.
2 n. Hist. a place on a sealing vessel and the right to share in the profits of the hunt.
- 1819 . . . the rest generally pay forty shillings for their birth [sic], that is, for their proportion of the provisions during the voyage; and all are to receive each half a man's share of the seals caught, or the value thereof, dividing the amount of the whole produce of the voyage into so many shares as there are men on board.
- 1905 The man who has nothing has yet the labour of his hands. Be he skipper, there is one to back his skill and honesty; be he hand, there is no lack of berths to choose from.
- 1965 In former years, sealers had to pay from 10 shillings to 30 shillings for a berth.
3 n. the fee paid by each man in the crew for his share of the costs of provisioning a vessel and the right to share in the profits of the hunt.
See also: berth money
- 1819 The crews of their largest craft consist of from thirteen to eighteen men; of these some are gunners, who, on finding their own guns, are admitted birth [sic] free. . . .
4 n. Fishing a part of a fishery claimed by a vessel and her crew with the exclusive right to fish for the season.
- 1905 . . . when he awoke at dawn there were two other schooners lying quietly at anchor near by and the berths had been "staked."
- 1853 I have seen licenses granted covering both sides of a river, in defiance of the regulations which say "berths to be confined to one side of rivers wherever practicable".