bowsprit
a spar projecting from the upper end of the bow of a sailing vessel, for holding the tacks of various jibs or stays and often supporting a jib boom.
Origin of bowsprit
1Words Nearby bowsprit
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use bowsprit in a sentence
The bowsprit of the Guerriere caught fast in the rigging of the Constitution, and the sailors on both ships tried to board.
Stories of Our Naval Heroes | VariousHer bowsprit and masts were nearly all cut away, and out of more than a hundred men only fourteen were unhurt.
Stories of Our Naval Heroes | VariousThey'd got a kind of fore-shortening out of the bowsprit, and another set of canvas partly up that was dirty and patched.
The Belted Seas | Arthur ColtonA few wretches alone clung desperately to the forepart of the ship and the stump of the bowsprit.
The Missing Ship | W. H. G. KingstonThe studding-sails were rigged out, and various strange-shaped sails were set between the masts and above and below the bowsprit.
The Missing Ship | W. H. G. Kingston
British Dictionary definitions for bowsprit
/ (ˈbəʊsprɪt) /
nautical a spar projecting from the bow of a vessel, esp a sailing vessel, used to carry the headstay as far forward as possible
Origin of bowsprit
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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