wet dock

wet dock (plural wet docks)

1. (nautical) A dock that has a constant level of water in which a vessel floats despite the tide; usually achieved by separating the dock from the sea by a lock.
   • 1957, J. D. Salinger, "Zooey", in, 1961, Franny and Zooey, 1991 LB Books edition, page 90,

     It was rather as though, after being in makeshift wet dock for days, the Queen Mary had just sailed out of, say, Walden Pond, as suddenly and perversely as she had sailed in.

• twocked