bowline

[ boh-lin, -lahyn ]

/ ˈboʊ lɪn, -ˌlaɪn /

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.

Nearby words

Idioms

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 boue bow²) + line line¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for bowline

You will then examine the lugger, and occupy yourself with Bowline, in getting her ready to put to sea.
The Buccaneer Chief|Gustave Aimard
A bowline was lowered to McGunigal and he was taken safely aboard.
Record of Medals of Honor issued to the officers and enlisted men of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard, 1862-1923|U.S. Bureau of Naval Personnel
Then Scotty ran lightly to the foredeck and got the bowline ready.
The Flying Stingaree|Harold Leland Goodwin
The fore-front of the wind hard and solid as the side of a moving barn, caught me from behind as I made fast the bowline.
Down the Yellowstone|Lewis R. Freeman

When the wind is fair we can run off large, and when it is foul we must haul upon a bowline, let who will reign.
The Two Admirals|J. Fenimore Cooper

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