hammock

Definition

A swinging couch or bed, usually made of netting or canvas about six feet (1.8 meters) wide, suspended by clews or cords at the ends.

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish hamaca, from Taíno *hamaka (compare Lokono hamaka, Wayuu jama'a), from Proto-Arawak *hamaka. Columbus, in the narrative of his first voyage, says: “A great many Indians in canoes came to the ship to-day for the purpose of bartering their cotton, and hamacas, or nets, in which they sleep.”

Example Sentences

• "[…] the poore ſaylers, who […] commonly get forthwith into their beds (or hamackoes) reſting their tyred bodies […]"
• "[W]ho vvould not rather Sleep Quietly upon a Hammock, vvithout either Cares in his Head, or Crudities in his Stomach, then lye Carking upon a Bed of State, vvith the Qualms and Tvvinges that accompany Surfeits and Exceſs?"