hawser

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a thick, heavy-duty rope or cable used to tow or moor a ship

   The deck crew secured the hawser to the bollard before the tug began to pull.

From Middle English hauser or haucer, from Anglo-Norman haucer, ultimately from Vulgar Latin altiare ("to raise"), based on Latin altus ("high"). Its English spelling was later reshaped through association with hawse and perhaps haul.

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