[f. THIMBLE + EYE.] a. Naut. See quots. 1867, 1877. b. A fish, the Chub Mackerel, Scomber colias. So Thimble-eyed a., having eyes like thimbles, as this fish.
1867. Smyth, Sailor’s Word-bk., Thimble-eyes, are thimble-shaped apertures in iron plates, where sheaves are not required; frequently used instead of dead-eyes for the top-mast-rigging, futtock-plates, and backstays in the channels.
1877. Knight, Dict. Mech., Thimble-eye,… an eye in a plate through which a rope is rove without a sheave. A dead-eye.
1888. Goode, Amer. Fishes, 196. The only other spotted fish which has been known to frequent our coast is the ‘chub mackerel’ or ‘thimble eye.’
1891. Cent. Dict., Thimble-eyed,… used of the chub-mackerel.
