Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
bowline [boh-lin, -lahyn] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- Also called bowline knot. a knot used to make a nonslipping loop on the end of a rope.
- Nautical. a rope made fast to the weather leech of a square sail, for keeping the sail as flat as possible when close-hauled.
Idioms
- on a bowline, Nautical. sailing close-hauled.
- on an easy bowline, Nautical. close-hauled with sails well filled.
Origin of bowline 1275–1325; Middle English bouline, equivalent to bou- (perhaps boue bow2) + line line1 Examples from the Web for bowline Historical Examples of bowline
The “Bowline Song” indicated that he was feeling particularly jubilant.
Joseph C. Lincoln
The dogs’ traces should be of skin and fastened with toggles or buttons to the bowline.
Wilfred Thomason Grenfell
Hence the ship sails on a bowline, or stands on a taut bowline.
William Henry Smyth
A further involution makes what is termed a bowline on a bight.
William Henry Smyth
The breeze was easterly—a wind which would carry us on a bowline to Jamaica.
W.H.G. Kingston
British Dictionary definitions for bowline bowline noun nautical
- a line for controlling the weather leech of a square sail when a vessel is close-hauled
- on a bowline beating close to the wind
- a knot used for securing a loop that will not slip at the end of a piece of rope
Word Origin for bowline C14: probably from Middle Low German bōlīne, equivalent to bow ³ + line 1