hawse noun1.
[hɔ:z] Earlier
halse.
LME.[Prob. from Old Norse hals neck, ship's bow, tack of a sail, rope's end (= Old English heals neck, prow). Cf. HAUSE noun.]Nautical.
1. A ship's bow; now
spec. the part through which the anchor cables pass. Also in
pl., the hawse-holes.
LME.2. A cable, a hawser.
L16-M17.3. The arrangement of cables when a ship is moored with port and starboard forward anchors; the space between the head of a moored vessel and its anchor(s).
L16.athwart-hawse,
athwart the hawse,
thwart the hawse transversely in front of an anchored ship.
Comb.:
hawse-full,
hawse-fallen adverbs in a rough sea with the water coming into the hawse.
hawse-hole the hole through which the anchor cable passes;
hawse-piece a plank or plate through which a hawse-hole is cut;
hawse-pipe a metal pipe fitted in the hawse-hole of a wooden ship to prevent wear by the cable;
hawse-plug a plug fitted into a hawse-hole to keep water out.
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