rowlock

[ roh-lok; for 3 also Nautical rol-uhk, ruhl- ]

noun
  1. Architecture. one of several concentric rings of masonry forming an arch.

  2. a brick laid on edge, especially as a header.: Compare soldier (def. 7).

  1. Chiefly British. oarlock.

Origin of rowlock

1
1740–50; variant of oarlock; see row2

Words Nearby rowlock

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use rowlock in a sentence

  • As Constans paddled out into the stream he heard the steady thumping of oars in rowlock.

    The Doomsman | Van Tassel Sutphen
  • Carved, too, was the baling bowl, and the loom of the oar was carved in curving lines from rowlock leather to hand.

    Wulfric the Weapon Thane | Charles W. Whistler
  • Then it won't slip out of the rowlock and sail off, leaving you to wait until somebody happens along to pick you up.

    Ethel Morton at Chautauqua | Mabell S. C. Smith
  • I bade her hand me hers, and she did it instantly, sliding it along to my rowlock and losing but a single stroke.

    Carette of Sark | John Oxenham
  • Joe noticed that the oars were muffled with sennit, and that even the rowlock sockets were protected with leather.

British Dictionary definitions for rowlock

rowlock

/ (ˈrɒlək) /


noun
  1. a swivelling device attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds an oar in place and acts as a fulcrum during rowing: Usual US and Canadian word: oarlock

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