A dictionary of Confusable Phrases: More Than 10,000 Idioms and Collocations

ship’s clerk • shipping clerk
ship’s clerk —
1
. an officer responsible for accounts and stores
in a passenger liner: He appears to have been a somewhat
humorless person, very dedicated to his profession as ship’s
clerk. 2. (U.S. Navy) an officer supervising records, reports,
etc.: The torpedoman, ship’s clerk, photographer and aerog-
rapher entered the warrant ranks during WWII.
shipping clerk —a clerk who checks merchandise and attends
to the shipment of goods: Shipping clerks are record keepers
responsible for all outgoing shipments.
ship’s mate • shipmate
ship’s mate —an officer on a merchant ship ranking imme-
diately below the captain: Big Jim was the ship’s mate on the
Bloody Moon, a ship owned by Captain Morgan.
shipmate —a person belonging to the same crew: Before Pete
experienced any kamikaze attacks, he and his shipmates used
to discuss the safest place on a ship.
shoot a bolt • shoot one’s bolt
shoot a bolt—send a bolt of a door, etc. into its fastening:
The frame into which the bolts shoot is made of great strength.
shoot one’s bolt—(coll.) do all that one is capable of; exhaust
all of one’s resources: The home players had shot their bolt,
and in thirty minutes the Birmingham team added two goals.
shoot a goal • shoot at the goal
shoot a goal —(Sport) score a goal: The ball had come in
from the right, and McLuckie killed it, and shot a goal.
shoot at the goal —
1
. (Sport) kick the ball, etc. in an attempt
to score a goal: In the last hockey game, Mike Modano shot
at the goal several times. 2. have smth. in mind as an object;
strive for smth.: When it is achieved there will be other goals
for them to shoot at.
shoot a star • shoot for the stars
shoot a star —(Nautical) take the star’s meridional altitude
so as to get the position of the ship: It takes several minutes
to find and shoot a star.