bowline

[ boh-lin, -lahyn ]

/ ˈboʊ lɪn, -ˌlaɪn /

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noun

Also called bowline knot . a knot used to make a nonslipping loop on the end of a rope.

Nautical. a rope made fast to the weather leech of a square sail, for keeping the sail as flat as possible when close-hauled.

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Idioms about bowline

on a bowline, Nautical. sailing close-hauled.

on an easy bowline, Nautical. close-hauled with sails well filled.

Origin of bowline

1275–1325; Middle English bouline, equivalent to bou- (perhaps bouebow²) + lineline¹

Words nearby bowline

bow legs, bowler, Bowles, bowlful, bowl game, bowline, bowling, bowling alley, bowling bag, bowling ball, bowling crease

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use bowline in a sentence

The bowline is also shown in the drawing of the 'Cygnet,' 35 tons, in a following chapter on Thames Clubs.
Yachting Vol. 2|Various.
The words of these windlass and bowline "shanties" have, of course, little of the element of finished poetry about them.
Studies in Folk-Song and Popular Poetry|Alfred M. Williams
To the westward, sir; on an easy bowline, and under short canvass.
The Two Admirals|J. Fenimore Cooper
Harry had already made a bowline in a bight at the end of a line.
Boy Scouts in the North Sea|G. Harvey Ralphson

There was a coil of extra cable here, and he grabbed the loose end and deftly made a running bowline knot.
Blow The Man Down|Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for bowline

bowline

/ (ˈbəʊlɪn) /

noun nautical

a line for controlling the weather leech of a square sail when a vessel is close-hauled

on a bowline beating close to the wind

a knot used for securing a loop that will not slip at the end of a piece of rope

Word Origin for bowline

C14: probably from Middle Low German bōlīne, equivalent to bow ³ + line 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012