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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Bowsprit

Bowsprit \Bow"sprit`\, n. [Bow + sprit; akin to D. boegspriet; boeg bow of a ship + spriet, E. sprit, also Sw. bogspr["o]t, G. bugspriet.] (Naut.) A large boom or spar, which projects over the stem of a ship or other vessel, to carry sail forward.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
bowsprit

"large spar extending from the bow of a ship with one or more sails of its own," late 13c., probably from Middle Low German bochspret, from boch "bow of a ship" (see bow (n.2)) + spret "pole" (compare Old English spreot "pole," Dutch spriet "spear;" see sprit). French beaupre is a Dutch loan word.

Wiktionary
bowsprit

n. (context nautical English) A spar projecting over the prow of a sailing vessel to provide the means of adding sail surface.

WordNet
bowsprit

n. a spar projecting from the bow of a vessel

Wikipedia
Bowsprit

The bowsprit of a sailing vessel is a spar extending forward from the vessel's prow. It provides an anchor point for the forestay(s), allowing the fore-mast to be stepped farther forward on the hull.

Usage examples of "bowsprit".

Venetian galley but more beam, and her long graceful stern and slender bowsprit was emphasized by comparison with the clumsy, apple-cheek bows of the ships of war near by.

If I time it right our mast should snap off her jibboom and with a bit of luck her bowsprit should catch in our rigging.

Breaking off the bowsprit where it passed over the figurehead would carry away the stays holding the foremast and foretopmast.

If her last plunge snapped off the bowsprit, his task would be complete.

Jack, leading him to the side, and carefully following the admiring gaze of all eyes on the quarterdeck Stephen perceived an array of overlapping triangular sails along the bowsprit and beyond it, well beyond it.

The English line had changed a good deal since it was first formed at crack of dawn and the Worcester had moved up two places, the Orion dropping astern for want of foretopgallantmast and then the Renown with her bowsprit gone in the gammoning: the squadron was now sailing in a bow-and-quarter line, pelting along as hard as ever they could go, all their carefully-husbanded stores, cordage, sailcloth and spars now laid out with a reckless prodigality.

Dryad nor anything resembling the Dryad except in the possession of two masts, but a genuine flyer, long and narrow, with a very fine entry, towering masts and a bowsprit of extraordinary length with a triple dolphin-striker, the Bonhomme Richard, that well-known blockade-runner.

Surprise, her bowsprit and even her jibboom crowded with people, willing to take the risk of a raking fire for the sake of boarding.

They had sighted him well to the south, just as he opened the great bight of Douarnenez, sailing large on a north-west wind, with his bowsprit set towards the Pointe du Raz, possibly making for the mouth of the Loire and the port of Nantes.

As he looked forward towards the bowsprit of his schooner the Frenchman imagined what his quarry would see.

He set his bowsprit straight for the Frenchman, who obliged him by holding his own course.

But on a mid-Atlantic swell, with the bowsprit punching into the run of the Equatorial current, it was hard to take decent aim.

Harry called his instructions in a continuous stream and James watched as the bowsprit swung steadily through an arc until the Bucephalas settled on to her new heading.

Harry Ludlow, having swung farther out into the deep Atlantic, had set his bowsprit for the centre of the Saintes channel.

He had drawn the bowsprit, the jib, and the stays running to the foremast.