bowline

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bowline

bow·line

 (bō′lĭn, -līn′)
n.
1. Nautical A rope attached to the weather leech of a square sail to hold the leech forward when sailing close-hauled.
2. A knot forming a loop that does not slip but that can be untied easily.

[Middle English bouline, probably from Middle Danish bovline or Middle Low German bōlīne, both from Middle Low German bōch līne : bōch, bow; see bheug- in Indo-European roots + līne, line (from Latin līnea; see line1).]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

bowline

(ˈbəʊlɪn)
n
1. (Nautical Terms) a line for controlling the weather leech of a square sail when a vessel is close-hauled
2. (Nautical Terms) on a bowline beating close to the wind
3. (Knots) a knot used for securing a loop that will not slip at the end of a piece of rope
[C14: probably from Middle Low German bōlīne, equivalent to bow3 + line1]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

bow•line

(ˈboʊ lɪn, -ˌlaɪn)

n.
1. Also called bow′line knot`. a knot used to make a nonslipping loop on the end of a rope.
2. a rope fastened to the leech of a square sail to keep the sail as flat as possible when sailing close-hauled.
[1275–1325; Middle English bouline]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.bowline - a loop knot that neither slips nor jamsbowline - a loop knot that neither slips nor jams
loop knot - any of various knots used to make a fixed loop in a rope
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations

bowline

[ˈbəʊlɪn] Nbolina f
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

bowline

nPalstek m; (= rope)Bulin(e) f
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

bowline

[ˈbəʊlɪn] n (Naut) (also bowline knot) → gassa d'amante
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
Yes, and we flipped it at the rate of ten gallons the hour; and when the squall came (for it's squally off there by Patagonia), and all hands --visitors and all --were called to reef topsails, we were so top-heavy that we had to swing each other aloft in bowlines; and we ignorantly furled the skirts of our jackets into the sails, so that we hung there, reefed fast in the howling gale, a warning example to all drunken tars.
Meantime, the crew driven from the forward part of the ship by the perilous seas that burstingly broke over its bows, stood in a line along the bulwarks in the waist; and the better to guard against the leaping waves, each man had slipped himself into a sort of bowline secured to the rail, in which he swung as in a loosened belt.
Wolf Larsen rove a bowline in a piece of rope and slipped it under his shoulders.
But Jerry was to know Harley Kennan, and quickly, for it was Harley Kennan, a bowline around his body under his arm-pits, lowered by a couple of seamen down the generous freeboard of the Ariel, who gathered in by the nape of the neck the smooth-coated Irish terrier that, treading water perpendicularly, had no eyes for him so eagerly did he gaze at the line of faces along the rail in quest of the one face.
From the boat-deck, with a bowline under Kwaque's arms and a turn of the rope around a pin, Dag Daughtry had lowered his leprous servitor into the waiting launch.
The two knights had come aboard the cog, and the grapplings having been thrown off, the three vessels now moved abreast through all the storm and rush of the fight Alleyne had been aware of the voice of Goodwin Hawtayne, the master-shipman, with his constant "Hale the bowline! Veer the sheet!" and strange it was to him to see how swiftly the blood-stained sailors turned from the strife to the ropes and back.
doesn’t she move as stately as a first-rate in smooth water, on a bowline? Why, woman, the figure-head of the Boadishey was a fool to her, and that, as I’ve often heard the captain say, was an image of a great queen; and arn’t queens always comely, woman?
Amid renewed growling and another futile attempt to free himself, Numa was finally forced to submit to the further indignity of having a rope secured about his neck; but this time it was no noose that might tighten and strangle him; but a bowline knot, which does not tighten or slip under strain.