oar

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   A type of lever used to propel a boat, having a flat blade at one end and a handle at the other, and pivoted in a rowlock atop the gunwale, whereby a rower seated in the boat and pulling the handle can pass the blade through the water by repeated strokes against the water's resistance, thus moving the boat.

   The oar snaps in his hand Before he reaches dry land But the sound doesn't deafen his smile Just pokes at wet sand With an oar in his hand Floats off down the river Nile Floats off down the river Nile...

2. 2
   noun

   An oarsman; a rower.

   He is a good oar.

3. 3
   verb

   To row; to travel with, or as if with, oars.

   The weather was fine, and whilst oaring along I would fain have landed on the islands between; but fearful of a change, and already half worn-out by my previous trail, I let them go by with the comforting resolve of turning them up on some future occasion.

4. 4
   noun

   an implement used to propel or steer a boat

From Middle English ore (“oar”), from Old English ār, from Proto-West Germanic *airu, from Proto-Germanic *airō (“oar”). Cognate with Old Norse ár.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images