bottomry (?b?t?mr?) n, pl -ries (Law) maritime law a contract whereby the owner of a ship borrows money to enable the vessel to complete the voyage and pledges the ship as security for the loan[C16: from Dutch bodemerij, from bodem bottom (hull of a ship) + -erij -ry]Collins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014bottomrythe pledging of a ship as security for a loan; if the ship is lost the debt is canceled.See also: Ships-Ologies & -Isms. Copyright 2008 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.