towline

[ toh-lahyn ]

/ ˈtoʊˌlaɪn /

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noun

a line, hawser, or the like, by which anything is or may be towed.

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Origin of towline

1710–20; tow¹ + line¹; compare Old English tohlīne (see tow³)

Words nearby towline

towie, to windward, towing path, to wit, towkay, towline, towmond, town, town and gown, town car, town clerk

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use towline in a sentence

A couple of fairish paddles were chipped out of bits of driftwood, and a towline a hundred feet long was made of lariats.
Overland|John William De Forest
I'm captain at this end of the towline, and I swear he shall go in.
The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863|Various
The combination always reminds me of a rather stylish tug-boat with its towline attached to a scow on a mud-flat.
The Transgression of Andrew Vane|Guy Wetmore Carryl
The Champion was coming, and he swam into her path, barely missing a clutch at the steel towline whizzing past him.
The Boy Scouts Book of Stories|Various

We had seven canines—three pairs and a leader—pulling upon a deerskin towline fastened to a thole-pin.
Overland through Asia; Pictures of Siberian, Chinese, and Tartar Life|Thomas Wallace Knox

British Dictionary definitions for towline

towline

/ (ˈtəʊˌlaɪn) /

noun

another name for towrope

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