kelp

Etymology

14th c., from Middle English culp, culpe, kilp, but of unknown ultimate origin.

noun

1. Any of several large brown algae seaweeds (order Laminariales).
   Underneath the area demarcated by the buoys, Ms Puckett plants kelp—a type of seaweed—on long ropes that resemble washing lines. 2021-06-26, “Why New England is going wild for wet weeds”, in The Economist, →ISSN
2. The calcined ashes of seaweed, formerly used in glass and iodine manufacture.

verb

1. (intransitive) To gather kelp.
   Just before we reached Seward the pilot got a radio message that a fishing boat in Thumb Cove had some kelp […] Neither of us had ever kelped before but there wasn't much to it, and we started bringing in full boxes back to Eads' barge. 2018, John Walter Sutherland, Resurrection Road, page 94