thole

¹ American  

[thohl] / θoʊl /

noun

1. a pin, or either of two pins, inserted into a gunwale to provide a fulcrum for an oar.

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thole ² American  

[thohl] / θoʊl /

verb (used with object)

Chiefly Scot.

tholed, tholing

1. to suffer; bear; endure.

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thole ¹ British  

/ θəʊl /

verb

1. dialect (tr) to put up with; bear

2. an archaic word for suffer

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thole ² British  

/ ˈθəʊlˌpɪn, θəʊl /

noun

1. a wooden pin or one of a pair, set upright in the gunwales of a rowing boat to serve as a fulcrum in rowing

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Etymology

Origin of thole¹

before 900; Middle English tholle, Old English tholl; cognate with Low German dolle, Old Norse thollr; akin to Old Norse thǫll young fir-tree

Origin of thole²

First recorded before 900; Middle English tholen, Old English tholian; cognate with Old Norse thola, Gothic thulan; akin to Greek tlênai “to bear, endure,” Latin tolerāre ( tolerate )

Example Sentences

In truth, they seem far from natural thole mates, he a fearless blue-water Tarzan, she a slightly petrified British Jane.

From Time Magazine Archive

It was with muffled oars against thole pins that New England fishermen ferried Washington across the Delaware .

From Time Magazine Archive

Along New England's shores, the squeak of a fisherman's oars against thole pins sounded lonely and clear in the fog of early morning, lately shrill with the cries of the vacationist and his young.

From Time Magazine Archive

He fitted the rope lashings of the oars onto the thole pins and, leaning forward against the thrust of the blades in the water, he began to row out of the harbour in the dark.

From "The Old Man and The Sea" by Ernest Hemingway

Just think, Marion," she continued, "of your father having to thole all this vulgar tomfoolery—he, that never sees a flash of humor, however broad and plain it may be.

From Playing With Fire by Barr, Amelia Edith Huddleston