rowlock

[roh-lok, rol-uhk, ruhl-]

noun

1. Architecture.,  one of several concentric rings of masonry forming an arch.

2. a brick laid on edge, especially as a header.

3. Chiefly British.,  oarlock.

rowlock

/ ˈrɒlək /

noun

1. Usual US and Canadian word: oarlock. a swivelling device attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds an oar in place and acts as a fulcrum during rowing

Word History and Origins

Origin of rowlock¹

1740–50; variant of oarlock; row ²

Example Sentences

Bono had, through his exertions—the boat being well nigh intractable, now swamped—snapped off the rowlock and a stave of the gunwale, wet with rot.

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On rowlock brick, like you see under your door threshold, the problem is even more severe because the mortar joints are facing the sky.

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My father hurriedly looked around for a pair but then, further off, saw a wooden "pram" dinghy, its oars still in its rowlocks.

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The listening men obeyed him, climbing in to settle on their benches by the rowlocks, while he stood watchful by the stern.

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And the sound of the regular sweep, and the shifting beat of the oar against the rowlocks, was distinctly heard by all present.

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