word of the day: hawser

The word of the day is hawser:

a heavy rope for mooring or towing.

Middle English haucer < Anglo-French hauceour, equivalent to Middle French hauci (er) to hoist (< Late Latin *altiāre to raise, derivative of Latin altus high; see haughty) (dictionary.com)

"Mort thought that history was thrashing around like a steel hawser with the tension off, twanging backwards and forwards across reality in great destructive sweeps."

 - Terry Pratchett, Mort

word of the day: hawser

The word of the day is hawser:

Etymology:  apparently Anglo-Norman hauceour , < Old French haucier to hawse v., hoist; in reference to the original purpose of a hawser. 

Naut. 

a. A large rope or small cable, in size midway between a cable and a tow-line, between 5 and 10 inches in circumference; used in warping and mooring; in large ships now made of steel.  (OED)

"At about five-fifteen in the afternoon, the hawsers began to snap as the surge lifted the boats above the piers."

 - Ian Frazier, "The toll: Sandy and the future", 11 & 18 February 2013 The New Yorker