Advertisement

Advertisement

bowline

[ boh-lin, -lahyn ]

noun

  1. Also called bowline knot. a knot used to make a nonslipping loop on the end of a rope.
  2. Nautical. a rope made fast to the weather leech of a square sail, for keeping the sail as flat as possible when close-hauled.


bowline

/ ˈbəʊlɪn /

noun

  1. a line for controlling the weather leech of a square sail when a vessel is close-hauled
  2. on a bowline
    beating close to the wind
  3. a knot used for securing a loop that will not slip at the end of a piece of rope
“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


Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of bowline1

1275–1325; Middle English bouline, equivalent to bou- (perhaps boue bow 2 ) + line line 1
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of bowline1

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms
  1. on a bowline, Nautical. sailing close-hauled.
  2. on an easy bowline, Nautical. close-hauled with sails well filled.
Discover More

Example Sentences

The bowline is also shown in the drawing of the 'Cygnet,' 35 tons, in a following chapter on Thames Clubs.

The words of these windlass and bowline "shanties" have, of course, little of the element of finished poetry about them.

To the westward, sir; on an easy bowline, and under short canvass.

Harry had already made a bowline in a bight at the end of a line.

There was a coil of extra cable here, and he grabbed the loose end and deftly made a running bowline knot.

Advertisement

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


bowl gamebowling