rowlock

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a U-shaped fitting or socket on the side of a boat that holds an oar and serves as its pivot while rowing

   The oar jumped out of the rowlock as the boat struck the wave.

2. 2
   noun

   a brick laid on its narrow side with its shortest face exposed, especially in a decorative course

   The mason finished the wall with a rowlock course above the window.

An eighteenth-century alteration of oarlock under the influence of row. Oarlock continues Old English arloc, a compound of oar + lock, referring to the fitting that confines an oar while allowing it to pivot.

Topics

External links

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