handline

From hand +‎ line.

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handline (plural handlines)

1. (fishing) A single fishing line without a rod, but usually attached to a reel, held in the hands.
2. A firefighting hose held and directed by a team of people.

handline (third-person singular simple present handlines, present participle handlining, simple past and past participle handlined)

1. (fishing) To fish with a single fishing line held in the hands.
   • 1997, Mark Kurlansky, “Prologue: Sentry on the Headlands (So Close to Ireland)”, in Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, Walker, →ISBN:

     But they remember fishing into the winter. “Christ,” says Bernard, “out there handlining in the snow. You’d come in numb. We didn’t have these modern clothes. Just wool. Or if they had them, we didn’t know.” “No,” said Leonard, “they weren’t there.” “Christ, it was cold.” “We didn’t have any choices.” “Couldn’t even put this much salt beef in.” The conversation turns to a favorite Newfoundland topic, how unhealthy their diet is. Traditional Newfoundland food is based on pork fat. Everything is cooked in it and then seasoned with scrunchions—rendered, diced fatback. “Good for the arteries,” Bernard says with a laugh.