coppered

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of copper.

   The yard coppered every hull in the fleet that season.

   The bottom of the ship was coppered to fend off shipworms.

   Note

   One regular -ed form does double duty here. It is the simple past (the yard coppered the hull) and the participle after have or be (the hull had been coppered). The verb behind it means to sheathe or coat with copper, so it is not limited to ships. When the participle settles before a noun, it becomes the shipbuilder's adjective, which can even be graded: more coppered, most coppered.

2. 2
   adjective

   Of a wooden ship's hull: sheathed below the waterline with thin sheets of copper to ward off teredo shipworms and limit the buildup of weed.

   The newly coppered frigate outran the merchantmen with ease.

   A coppered bottom protected the timbers from shipworm on the long Pacific crossing.

   Note

   A shipwright's word from the days of wooden hulls, when the part below the waterline needed armor against two enemies: the teredo shipworm boring into the planks and weed growing over them. It pairs naturally with bottom and hull, as in a coppered bottom. It names sheathing, not color: a coppered ship is clad in the metal itself, not painted to look like it.

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