A channel, pipe, or passage in a ship through which bilge water flows or is pumped out.
Compound of 'bilge' (from Middle Dutch 'bulge') and 'way' (from Old English 'weg,' meaning 'path' or 'direction'). This is a technical nautical term describing the infrastructure for managing bilge water.
Modern ships have incredibly sophisticated bilgeway systems with multiple pumps, filters, and monitoring equipment—it's way more complex than people realize, and bilgewater discharge is now heavily regulated by international environmental law!
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