hawser
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of hawser
1300–50; Middle English haucer < Anglo-French hauceour, equivalent to Middle French hauci ( er ) to hoist (< Late Latin *altiāre to raise, derivative of Latin altus high; haughty ) + -our -or 2, -er 2
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.
Bollards were first used in a maritime setting, where they were immovable objects to which a ship could safely lash its hawser after docking.
From Washington Post • Oct. 9, 2022
Falling to the floor behind her was a braid as thick as a hawser.
From New York Times • Jun. 29, 2021
He saved nearly 40 lives by diving into the churning seas with a rope, then used it to pull a thick hawser taut between the yacht and the beach as a lifeline for survivors.
From The Guardian • Jan. 1, 2019
Another heading wide of off, and Strauss - his huge forearms like lengths of steel hawser - lifts blade away from trouble.
From BBC • May 27, 2010
He tied one end of a hawser to a pillar and passed the other about the roundhouse top, taking the slack up, so that no one’s toes could touch the ground.
From "The Odyssey" by Homer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
