hawsehole

English

A hawsehole

Alternative forms

• hawse hole

Etymology

hawse +‎ hole

Noun

hawsehole (plural hawseholes)

1. (nautical) The hole through which a ship's anchor rope is passed.
   • 1986, Jean Boudriot, The Seventy-four Gun Ship‎^[1], page 59:

     The bolsters can be seen outboard of the hawseholes, and the way they are cut away to permit the passage of the anchor-cables.

   • 2002, David Sherman, Demontech, Book 1: Onslaught‎^[2], page 21:

     Then he saw. a few feet aft of the hawsehole, a darker spot on the hull—someone had left a porthole open below the forecastle. in the hold that was the crews' quarters.

   • 2004, Nelson H. Lawry, Glen M. Williford, Leo K. Polaski, Portsmouth Harbor's Military and Naval Heritage, page 86:

     Its overlapping steel plates and the empty hawseholes, from which the anchors will soon be suspended, are visible.

2. (nautical) A hole in a ship through which a hawser is passed.

Synonyms

• (hole through which a hawser is passed): cathole

Derived terms

• through the hawsehole

Translations

nautical: hole for anchor rode

• Bulgarian: клюз m (kljuz)
• Dutch: kluisgat
• Finnish: silmäke (fi), klyysi
• French: écubier (fr)
• Hebrew: מִכְנָס (he) m (mikhnas), פֶּתַח שָׁרְשׁרֶת הָעֹגֶן (he) m (petakh sharshert ha'ogen)
• Spanish: escobén (es)
• Swedish: klys c