bowse
1 Americanverb (used with object)
noun
verb
Example Sentences
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A "cad" is a person fit for no other occupation than carrying somebody else's hawk; "booze" is a derivation of the falconer's "bowse," to drink.
From Time Magazine Archive
O 'tis bien bowse, 'tis bien bowse, Too little is my skew.
From Our Admirable Betty A Romance by Farnol, Jeffery
To pull or haul; as, to bowse upon a tack; to bowse away, i.e., to pull all together.
From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Webster, Noah
O generous food Drest as though bold Robin Hood Would with his Maid Marian, Sup and bowse from horn and can.
From Letters of John Keats to His Family and Friends by Keats, John
Cruikshank knew all about Buzmen and Adam-tilers; the days when he drank bene bowse had not been wasted, if low life be worth depicting.
From George Cruikshank by Chesson, W. H.
When the decks were cleared, the guns bowsed out, Prince went below with Nat.
From "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Lee Latham
A tackle was then put on the bow, which was bowsed down until the boat could be dragged straight ahead.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 648, June 2, 1888. by Various
I shan't have very wide swing with Peters over me, but I'll see that the boys don't get abused when he's bowsed up his jib.
From Jo's Boys by Alcott, Louisa May
It soon became evident that the anchor had fairly begun to rise off the ground, for the buoy-rope, which at first had been bowsed taught over the stern of our launch, became quite slack.
From The Lieutenant and Commander Being Autobigraphical Sketches of His Own Career, from Fragments of Voyages and Travels by Hall, Basil
“In a moment,” Eric said, “the wheelbarrow got bowsed over, when I managed, worse luck, to fall underneath; and then, finding I couldn’t get up again, I hailed you, brother.”
From Fritz and Eric The Brother Crusoes by Hutcheson, John C. (John Conroy)
Hauling upon a tack is called "bowsing upon a tack," and when they would have the men pull all together, they cry, "Bowse away."
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
A purchase used in bowsing down the eyes of the lower rigging over the mast-heads; lifting objects from the hold; getting anchors over the side, &c.
From The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by Belcher, Edward, Sir
"Oakes is bowsing out his jib with his brother baronet, as we sailors say, and I have hauled out of the line, without a signal."
From The Two Admirals by Cooper, James Fenimore
All hands is bowsing out their jibs on it, sir, and the old Hall will soon be carrying as much sail as she can stagger under.
From The Two Admirals by Cooper, James Fenimore
Place a tackle across the deck ready for bowsing the gun into its carriage through the port.
From Ordnance Instructions for the United States Navy. 1866. Fourth edition. by United States. Navy Dept. Bureau of Ordnance
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.
