adj, adv, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   The part of the bow containing the hawseholes.
2. 2
   the hole that an anchor rope passes through wordnet
3. 3
   A hawsehole or hawsepipe.
4. 4
   The horizontal distance or area between an anchored vessel's bows and the actual position of her anchor(s).

Verb

1. 1
   To lie uneasily to an anchor, typically due to a weather tide. intransitive

Adjective

1. 1
   In a position relative to the course and position of a vessel, somewhat forward of the stem. not-comparable

Adverb

1. 1
   Lying to two anchors, streamed from either bow. not-comparable

Synonyms

All synonyms

companionhawseholehawsepipepartsship

Etymology

Alteration of Middle English halse, from Old Norse hals (“neck”) (compare Icelandic háls (“neck”)).

Related phrases

athwart hawsebold hawseclearing hawsefoul the hawsehawse pipehawse timberhawse-bagshawse-blockshawse-bolsterhawse-fallenhawse-fullhawse-hole

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