allision

Noun

allision (plural allisions)

1. The striking of a vessel against a fixed object; the act of alliding or an instance thereof.
   • Implicit in the presumption operable here is the standard to which the operator is held: prudently navigated vessels do not allide with wharfs or moored vessels or aids to navigation. Evidence of compliance with the required standard of care might take the form of evidence of inevitable accident...1984 "United States. National Transportation Safety Board Decisions Volume IV: Enforcement Decisions in Aviation and Marine Cases. January 1, 1982 — December 31, 1984 p 2020
   • ...contact of a vessel with a stationary object such as an anchored vessel or a pier. In modem practice, “collision” is often used where “allision” was once the preferred term2004 Bryan A. Garner ed. Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed.)
2. (rare) The act of dashing against or striking upon.
   • There have not been any islands of note, or considerable extent, torn and cast off from the continent by earthquakes, or severed from it by the boisterous allision of the sea.1695 John Woodward: An essay toward a natural history of the earth (Also quoted in Samuel Johnson's dictionary)
   • ...Ainsworth observes on the letter R, that its sound is formed in the upper part of the throat, but so vibrated by a quaver of the tongue, and allision on the teeth, that it makes a sound like the grinning of a dog, whence it is called the canine Letter; but the Romans, on the contrary, give it so...1822 Walter Whiter: Etymologicon universale