manger

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an open box or trough in a stable from which horses, cattle, or other animals feed

   The groom filled the manger with fresh hay before nightfall.

2. 2
   noun

   nautical: a compartment near a ship's hawseholes that catches water entering with the anchor cable

   Water draining from the wet cable collected in the ship's manger.

From Middle English manger, through Old French mangeoire from mangier, 'to eat.' The ordinary sense names an animal's feeding trough; sailors later applied the same container image to a compartment that catches water brought in through a ship's hawseholes.

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