towline

American

[toh-lahyn] / ˈtoʊˌlaɪn /

noun

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

towline British

/ 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

Etymology

Origin of towline

1710–20; tow ¹ + line ¹; compare Old English tohlīne ( tow ³ )

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.

An attempt to tow the ship with tugboats into open ocean ended when a towline snapped late Monday, Port Authority chief executive Philip Holliday said.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 4, 2022

Skoglund was so concerned as he began his first Gulf of Alaska tow that he sent an email to the chief Kulluk mariner on the other side of the towline.

From New York Times • Dec. 30, 2014

We were waiting for the towline to be attached to lift us and take us back to the mother ship.

From BBC • Aug. 30, 2013

The photo in question is too fuzzy to show pilot or motor or a towline or Whitehead, and could easily be a glider.

From Scientific American • Jun. 13, 2013

I had brought a rope, which I tied to the towline.

From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023