A holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing

Usage examples of tholepin.

Andhe sighted along one of the arms until he came to the distant three-sided bucketthat wishbone-shaped tholepin that formed the handle of the bucket was, by itself, of a size to stagger the imagination.

She hiked a haunch onto the gunwale, near the handwhittled tholepin, braced herself there with one knee locked, the other leg a-swing.

Oars also and tholepins had to be hunted up, and by the time all this was accomplished the need of help out there on the river was very urgent indeed.

There was a sluggish tide moving in the channel, and he let it carry him away as he dropped the oars on the tholepins and pulled lustily.

It seemed to those in the lifeboat that they were not going to be missed this time, and so they lowered away their sodden canvas, shipped tholepins, and got out their oars.

But he used the farthest set of tholepins, even though it made rowing much more difficult.