Hām'mock, n.

[Sp. hamaca, amahaca, It. amaca, Pg. maca, Fr. hamac, D. hangmat, Ger. hangematte, Sw. hängmatta. A word of Indian origin; for Columbus, in the Narrative of his first voyage, says, “A great many Indians in canoes came to the ship to-day for the purpose of bartering their cotton, and hamacas, or nets, in which they sleep.”] A kind of hanging bed, usually consisting of a netting or a piece of hempen cloth about six feet long and three feet wide, gathered at the ends, from which it is suspended by cords.