Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Hawse?

\Hawse\ (h[add]z or h[add]s; 277), n. [Orig. a hawse hole, or hole in the ship; cf. Icel. hals, h[=a]ls, neck, part of the bows of a ship, AS. heals neck. See {Collar}, and cf. {Halse} to embrace.] 1. A hawse hole. --Harris. 2. (Naut.) (a) The situation of the cables when a vessel is moored with two anchors, one on the starboard, the other on the port bow. (b) The distance ahead to which the cables usually extend; as, the ship has a clear or open hawse, or a foul hawse; to anchor in our hawse, or athwart hawse. (c) That part of a vessel's bow in which are the hawse holes for the cables. {Athwart hawse}. See under {Athwart}. {Foul hawse}, a hawse in which the cables cross each other, or are twisted together. {Hawse block}, a block used to stop up a hawse hole at sea; -- called also {hawse plug}. {Hawse hole}, a hole in the bow of a ship, through which a cable passes. {Hawse piece}, one of the foremost timbers of a ship, through which the hawse hole is cut. {Hawse plug}. Same as {Hawse block} (above). {To come in at the hawse holes}, to enter the naval service at the lowest grade. [Cant] {To freshen the hawse}, to veer out a little more cable and bring the chafe and strain on another part.