- Hawse
- Hawse Hawse (h[add]z or h[add]s; 277), n. [Orig. a hawse hole,
or hole in the bow of the ship; cf. Icel. hals, h[=a]ls,
neck, part of the bows of a ship, AS. heals neck. See
{Collar}, and cf. {Halse} to embrace.]
1. A hawse hole. --Harris.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Naut.) (a) The situation of the cables when a vessel is moored with two anchors, one on the starboard, the other on the port bow. (b) The distance ahead to which the cables usually extend; as, the ship has a clear or open hawse, or a foul hawse; to anchor in our hawse, or athwart hawse. (c) That part of a vessel's bow in which are the hawse holes for the cables. [1913 Webster]
{Athwart hawse}. See under {Athwart}.
{Foul hawse}, a hawse in which the cables cross each other, or are twisted together.
{Hawse block}, a block used to stop up a hawse hole at sea; -- called also {hawse plug}.
{Hawse piece}, one of the foremost timbers of a ship, through which the hawse hole is cut.
{Hawse plug}. Same as {Hawse block} (above).
{To come in at the hawse holes}, to enter the naval service at the lowest grade. [Cant]
{To freshen the hawse}, to veer out a little more cable and bring the chafe and strain on another part. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.