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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bowse

Bowse \Bowse\, v. i. [See Booze, and Bouse.]

  1. To carouse; to bouse; to booze.
    --De Quincey.

  2. (Naut.) To pull or haul; as, to bowse upon a tack; to bowse away, i. e., to pull all together.

Bowse

Bowse \Bowse\, n. A carouse; a drinking bout; a booze.

Wiktionary
bowse

Etymology 1 n. A carouse; a drinking bout; a booze. vb. (context archaic English) To drink excessively and socially; to carouse. Etymology 2

vb. (context nautical English) To haul or hoist (something) with a tackle.

WordNet
bowse

v. haul with a tackle [syn: bouse]

Usage examples of "bowse".

When the breech of the gun is above the port-sill, hook the garnet and the thwart-ship-tackle to the cascabel, and bowse on both.

His men rushed to bowse his yards tight as their captain eased his rudder to take full advantage of the wind.

He was also now part of a formidable armed party, including powerful sailors capable of dealing with most situations, such as freeing a bogged wheel by means of a tackle seized to a stout tree, the fall running along a dry bank, so that all hands could bowse upon it.

Hook a rolling-tackle on the opposite side of the yard, bowse it well taut, and the trusses also, if they be of rope.

It was a solace to reflect that Mabel Bowse could have clothed herself in no more unbecoming garment than the green-and-brown checked tweed she was wearing.

Sent below again, the Pelicans were surrounded by barked orders that saw the guns bowsed up again so that their muzzles touched the wood of the now closed ports.

The yards, first loosed to spill the wind, were hauled round and bowsed tight so that he could pull away from the shore on a starboard tack.

But they were bowsed tight against the side, with no appearance of being loaded, seemingly harmless.

Again the smell of slow-match filled the air as the tubs were placed alongside the guns, though the men had strict orders to keep their cannon inboard, bowsed tight against the gun ports.

Back on deck, with time to spare, Harry had all his guns housed, taking care to leave his larboard carronades loaded, even if they were bowsed tight against the ports.

The running out of the guns was an unhurried affair, and the loading was all dumb show The tubs of slow-match were set to both sides, even though the larboard guns were still bowsed tight against the ports.

The Scammell reversed out and by the time it was back with the next trailer, the first had been parked and bowsed down with the sprung steel securing shackles.

Six small bronze cannon rested with their muzzles bowsed up against the bulwarks on each side of the craft.

Even more likely to impress were the two long cast-steel twelve-pounder rifles that served as stern-chasers, bowsed tight in place with double lashings.

Overhead the hands had already bowsed the swinging yard to the shrouds and were running a cable to the shattered end to act as a brace.