lockspit

English

Etymology

Apparently: lock (“fastening”) + spit (“spade's depth”)

Noun

lockspit (plural lockspits)

1. (cartography) A trench dug in the ground to mark a boundary or other imaginary line.
   • 1937, Transactions of the Institution of Engineers amd Shipbuilders, volume 80, page 8:

     The widening of the river referred to in items […] was carried out by first cutting a V-shaped trench or lockspit throughout the length of the widenings on the line of the proposed new river bank […].

   • 1966, Blue Book 1966, Southampton: Ordnance Survey:

     Lockspits will not be shown [on maps] in bogs except where they occur on County, Barony and Townland Boundaries.

Verb

lockspit (third-person singular simple present lockspits, present participle lockspiting, simple past and past participle lockspited)

1. to dig a such a trench

Anagrams

• lickpots, lopstick, slicktop