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  • timber hitch
    timber hitch
    noun
    a knot or hitch on a spar or the like, made by taking a turn on the object, wrapping the end around the standing part of the rope, then several times around itself.
  • timber-hitch
    timber-hitch
    verb (used with object)
    to fasten by means of a timber hitch.

timber hitch

1 American  

noun

  1. a knot or hitch on a spar or the like, made by taking a turn on the object, wrapping the end around the standing part of the rope, then several times around itself.


timber-hitch 2 American  
[tim-ber-hich] / ˈtɪm bərˌhɪtʃ /

verb (used with object)

  1. to fasten by means of a timber hitch.


timber hitch British  

noun

  1. a knot used for tying a rope round a spar, log, etc, for haulage

"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

Etymology

Origin of timber hitch1

First recorded in 1805–15

Origin of timber-hitch2

First recorded in 1880–85

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.

See Examples For:

V. The timber hitch always used on the lower end or notch of the bow.

From Two Little Savages Being the adventures of two boys who lived as Indians and what they learned by Seton, Ernest Thompson

Tie four out of the following knots: square or reef, sheet-bend, bowline, fisherman's, sheepshank, halter, clove hitch, timber hitch, or two half hitches.

From Boy Scouts Handbook The First Edition, 1911 by Boy Scouts of America

The timber hitch always used on the lower end or notch of the bow.

From Boy Scouts Handbook The First Edition, 1911 by Boy Scouts of America

I think a farmer would be more likely to adopt a timber hitch, which is made in several ways.

From The Postmaster's Daughter by Tracy, Louis

Scotty fastened one end of the small rope to the sapling, about halfway up, and secured it with a timber hitch.

From The Flying Stingaree by Goodwin, Harold L. (Harold Leland)

Stooping down he slipped the line under the bags of ballast and made a timber-hitch with the end, hauling it well taut.

From The Children of the King by Crawford, F. Marion (Francis Marion)

Now pass three turns of twine like a timber-hitch tightly around the part where the nettles separate and fasten the twine, and while passing this "warp" lay the nettles backward and forward with each turn.

From Knots, Splices and Rope Work A Practical Treatise by Verrill, A. Hyatt (Alpheus Hyatt)

A timber-hitch had better have the loose end twisted more than once, if the rope be stiff.

From The Art of Travel Shifts and Contrivances Available in Wild Countries by Galton, Francis, Sir

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