between decks
1
8.6
- adverb
- Specialized
:
entre cubiertas
- The captain directed the new recruits to familiarize themselves with the storage facilities located between decks.
Examples
-
Even though the line prided itself on the luxury and elegance it gave its salon passengers, most of the ships had limited facilities for those who traveled in cabin class, but between decks had ample, albeit crowded, space for its third-class ticket holders.
Academic text (1993) -
The crew conducted maintenance tasks in the area between decks to ensure the ship was in top condition.
-
During the inspection, we discovered several leaks in the compartments between decks that needed urgent repair.
Synonyms
4
4.6
In the space under the main deck of a ship
1
5.6
A space below the ship's main deck for people or goods
In the space between a ship's decks used for cargo or people
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward spatial composition: 'between' indicates a location separating two items and 'decks' names the ship levels, so the meaning 'in the space between the decks' is directly derivable from the constituents. Although it's a nautical term, the preposition + plural noun pattern is cross-linguistically common, making it immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows both words.
Etymology
The phrase between decks comes from old ships where people or goods were kept in the narrow space between two floors. The word between shows being in the middle and decks are the ship's floors, so the phrase came to mean 'in the space between the decks'.