noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A rope fastened near the middle of the leech or perpendicular edge of the square sails.
2. 2
   a loop knot that neither slips nor jams wordnet
3. 3
   A knot tied so as to produce an eye or loop in the end of a rope that will not slip or jam.

Synonyms

All synonyms

bowline knotknotriggingrope

Example

More examples

"You should make sure that you tie a bowline."

Etymology

From Middle English bouline, bawelyne.

Related phrases

bowline bridleon a bowlinerunning bowlinebowline bridleon bowlinerunning bowline

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.