cutwater
Americannoun
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Nautical.
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the forward edge of the stem of a vessel, dividing the water as the vessel advances.
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a vertical timber construction set forward of and following the stem of a wooden vessel below the water line, usually curving forward above the water line to support a beak-head or figurehead.
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Civil Engineering. a sharply pointed upstream face of a bridge pier, for resisting the effects of moving water or ice.
noun
Etymology
Origin of cutwater
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Other blazes had mysteriously broken out from her cutwater to her overhanging stern.
From Time Magazine Archive
Among shipowners he was famed for reintroducing the vertical figurehead, a figure that stood upright on the cutwater instead of hanging horizontally over the sea.
From Time Magazine Archive
The cutwater of the onrushing ship loomed up before him tremendously.
From Sir Henry Morgan, Buccaneer A Romance of the Spanish Main by Will Crawford
Job had caught hold of the cutwater, and, digging his fingers into the wood, held on by main strength for a few minutes.
From The Lifeboat by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne
The "lap, lap" of the small waves upon the cutwater was soothing and in harmony with the hour.
From House of Torment A Tale of the Remarkable Adventures of Mr. John Commendone, Gentleman to King Phillip II of Spain at the English Court by Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull
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.
