Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Chiefly British An oarlock.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A contrivance on a boat's gunwale in or on which the oar rests and swings freely in rowing. The principal kinds of rowlocks are – a notch in the gunwale (as in the first illustration), which may be either square or rounded, and is usually lined with metal; two short pegs, called
thole-pins , projecting from the gunwale, between which the oar is placed; a stirrup-shaped swivel of metal pivoted in the gunwale (as in the second illustration), or on an outrigger. Sometimes a single pin set into the gunwale is used instead of a rowlock, the oar having a hole through which the pin passes, or vice versa, or being fastened to it by means of a thong or gromet. - In architecture, characterized by having its voussoirs in concentric rings, one closely adjusted to another. The rowlock arch of brick is one in which each ring of brick voussoirs is only the width of the brick, or about four inches, in depth.
Wiktionary
- n. nautical, chiefly UK a pivot attached to the gunwale (outrigger in a sport boat) of a boat that supports and guides an oar, and provides a fulcrum for rowing; an oarlock (mostly US).
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Naut.), Chiefly Brit. A contrivance or arrangement serving as a fulcrum for an oar in rowing. It consists sometimes of a notch in the gunwale of a boat, sometimes of a pair of pins between which the oar rests on the edge of the gunwale, sometimes of a single pin passing through the oar, or of a metal fork or stirrup pivoted in the gunwale and suporting the oar; same as oarlock.
- n. One of the rings of masonry included in an arch having more than one ring.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a holder attached to the gunwale of a boat that holds the oar in place and acts as a fulcrum for rowing
Examples
“Kevin Wilkinson's simple metal dinghy, propelled by a single scull from a rowlock at the stern, maintains one of the oldest crossings of the Mersey – now transferred to the canal because the nearby river itself is bridged.”
The Guardian: Britain's Best Views: the Mersey ferry, Liverpool
“He saw the boat boys knocked about, and one of them put in irons for three days with nothing to eat for the crime of breaking a rowlock while pulling.”
“Their plan was as follows: The men were each to take their oar, cushion, and rowlock thong, and, going overland from Corinth to the sea on the Athenian side, to get to Megara as quickly as they could, and launching forty vessels, which happened to be in the docks at Nisaea, to sail at once to Piraeus.”
“Also, how easy to take from the head of Roberta two or three hairs and thread them between the sides of the camera, or about the rowlock to which her veil had been attached.”
“And upon the boat, clinging to that rowlock a veil belonging to her.”
“Sharpe heard a splash nearby and the groan of an oar in its rowlock.”
“Jarred against the rowlock, it smashed the man's ribcage.”
“I've done one or two little jobs on her besides the rowlock.”
“Two or three miles below this I had some difficulty in a rapid, as the pin of a rowlock lifted out of the socket when in the middle of rough water.”
“The breaking of an oar, the loss of a rowlock, or the slightest knock of his rotten boat against a rock, and”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘rowlock’.
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phrontistery-r
from phrontistery.info
raad, rabanna, rabbet, rabble, Rabelaisian, rabic, racemation, raceme, racemiferous, rach, rachidian, rachiometer and 514 more...
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The Aubrey/Maturin List I'm Gonna Mak...
I'm wading through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels one by one, and someday, I'll wade through them again and list all the words I learned while reading them.
Edit: I started ma...studdingsail, carronade, mumchance, grumlin-futtocks, crosscat-harpings, holystone, sennit, orlop, orchitis, negus, kevel, altumal and 1112 more...
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Interesting Scrabble words
Interesting words worth @ least 15 points.
smoochy, zareba, hyphal, djellaba, cloque, pyxidium, qindarka, squiffy, howbeit, chthonic, quinta, azimuthal and 262 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for rowlock.
chained_bear "'...they must be made to understand that silence is absolutely essential—matting on the thole-pins or rowlocks, naturally, but above all no talking: not a word.'"
--Patrick O'Brian, The Letter of Marque, 175 Feb 29, 2008