Wikipedia
A bow wave is the wave that forms at the bow of a ship when it moves through the water. As the bow wave spreads out, it defines the outer limits of a ship's wake. A large bow wave slows the ship down, is a risk to smaller boats, and in a harbor can damage shore facilities and moored ships. Therefore, ship hulls are generally designed to produce as small a bow wave as possible.
Usage examples of "bow wave".
Gartnn nodded gravely, his gray beard like a bow wave before his out-thrust chin.
All guns on her port side, plus the three main turrets shifted slightly, creating a fire pattern in Daisy's mind of twelve shells, three high and four across, just above and forward of the Himmit's bow wave.
The white serpent leapt and dove in their bow wave like a dolphin.
He watched the bow wave fall off the Coast Guard cutter, his expression calm and outwardly relaxed.
A gray warship was charging through the channel at full speed, throwing up a big bow wave.
Jack rang the engine room for All Stop, an act that was strictly for show as the tug's bow wave was already dying away to a ripple.
The hiss of the schooner's bow wave - he could see every plank in the hull, every seam where the heat of the sun had shrunk the wood.
Long and low and black with pitch, the sharp-prowed hulls were throwing a chuckle of bow wave under the dying breeze.