What is "oar"

Oar \Oar\ ([=o]r), n [AS. [=a]r; akin to Icel. [=a]r, Dan. aare, Sw. [*a]ra; perh. akin to E. row, v. Cf. Rowlock.]

1. An implement for impelling a boat, being a slender piece of timber, usually ash or spruce, with a grip or handle at one end and a broad blade at the other. The part which rests in the rowlock is called the loom.

   Note: An oar is a kind of long paddle, which swings about a kind of fulcrum, called a rowlock, fixed to the side of the boat.

2. An oarsman; a rower; as, he is a good oar.

3. (Zo["o]l.) An oarlike swimming organ of various invertebrates.

   Oar cock (Zo["o]l.), the water rail. [Prov. Eng.]

   Spoon oar, an oar having the blade so curved as to afford a better hold upon the water in rowing.

   To boat the oars, to cease rowing, and lay the oars in the boat.

   To feather the oars. See under Feather., v. t.

   To lie on the oars, to cease pulling, raising the oars out of water, but not boating them; to cease from work of any kind; to be idle; to rest.

   To muffle the oars, to put something round that part which rests in the rowlock, to prevent noise in rowing.

   To put in one's oar, to give aid or advice; -- commonly used of a person who obtrudes aid or counsel not invited.

   To ship the oars, to place them in the rowlocks.

   To toss the oars, To peak the oars, to lift them from the rowlocks and hold them perpendicularly, the handle resting on the bottom of the boat.

   To trail oars, to allow them to trail in the water alongside of the boat.

   To unship the oars, to take them out of the rowlocks.

Oar \Oar\, v. t. & i. [imp. & p. p. Oared; p. pr. & vb. n. Oaring.] To row. ``Oared himself.''
--Shak.

Oared with laboring arms.
--Pope.

Old English ar "oar," from Proto-Germanic *airo (cognates: Old Norse ar, Danish aare, Swedish åra), of unknown origin; perhaps related to Latin remus "oar," Greek eretes "rower," eretmos "oar."

n. 1 An implement used to propel a boat or a ship in the water, having a flat blade at one end, being row from the other end and being normally fastened to the vessel. 2 An oarsman; a rower. 3 (context zoology English) An oar-like swimming organ of various invertebrates. vb. To row; to propel with oars.

n. an implement used to propel or steer a boat

An oar is a tool used for rowing a boat

OAR or oar may refer to:

Oar is a 1969 solo album by Moby Grape co-founder Skip Spence. It is Spence's only solo album, recorded over seven days in Nashville, on which Spence plays all of the instruments.

In rowing, oars are used to propel the boat. Oars differ from paddles in that they use a fixed fulcrum, an oarlock attached to the side of the boat, to transfer power from the handle to the blade, rather than using the athlete's shoulders or hands as the pivot-point as in canoeing and kayaking.

When the rower uses one oar on one side, it is called sweep rowing that the single oar is called a "sweep" oar. When the rower uses two oars at the same time, one on each side, it is called sculling, and the two oars are called a pair of "sculls". Typical sculls are around 284 cm - 290 cm in length — sweep oars are 370 cm - 376 cm. A scull has a smaller blade area, as each rower wields a pair of them at any one time, operating each with one hand. Since the 1980s many oars have been adjustable in length.

The shaft of the oar ends with a thin flat surface 40 to 50 cm long and 25 cm wide, variously called the blade or spoon. Further along are the loom (or shaft), 2/3 of the way up which is the sleeve (including a wearplate) and button (or collar), and at the very end the handle. The handle may revert to wooden or, particularly in the case of sculls and some 21st century models of sweep-oar blades have rubber, cellular foam, suede or for example wood veneer grips over glass fiber.

The part of the oar the rower holds while rowing is the handle which is longer for sweep blades as each is held using both hands, than for sculls which are held with one hand.

There are hundreds of different variations of oars in terms of size and manufacturer specifications. "Macon" or "Cleaver" blade shapes of carbon-fibre are the most common in modern-day rowing. Classic oars were made out of wood. Since the use of such synthetic materials, first mass-produced by Dreissigacker in 1975, the weight of an oar has come down from over 7 kg to less than 2.5 kg and 1.275-1.8 kg in the case of sculls. While rowing in the most common competitive boats, fine boats ( racing shells), oars are since the early part of the 20th century supported by metal or fibreglass frames attached to the side of the boat called riggers for extra leverage.