What does bowse mean?
Bowse is a largely historical English verb meaning to haul or hoist something using a tackle, block, or pulley — most at home in nautical contexts. A sailor might bowse down on a halyard or bowse up cargo from a hold, the word appearing frequently in seamanship manuals and maritime fiction of earlier centuries. Today it is rare outside specialist or antiquarian writing, where it lends an authentic period flavor to descriptions of sailing ships. There is also an older, separate strand to the word: 'bowse' was once a common spelling variant of 'booze', used for heavy drinking, which is why the two words are sometimes confused. Modern readers will almost always encounter the hauling sense in historical or technical sources, and the drinking sense only in texts predating the standardization of the 'booze' spelling. Writers reaching for vivid, salt-stained vocabulary may still find it useful for evoking the physical labor of the age of sail.
To haul or hoist using a tackle or pulley, especially on a ship.
"They boused the anchor cable taut before securing it."
Almost exclusively nautical and historical; occasionally seen as a noun ('a bowsing tackle').
(Obsolete) To drink heavily — an early spelling variant of 'booze'.
"The old play text warns against those who bowse all night in taverns."
Superseded by the modern spelling 'booze'; encountered only in older literature.
Sailors didn't just pull ropes — they 'boused' them, a word so salty it survives mainly in old seamanship manuals.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bowse
The nautical verb 'bowse' (also spelled 'bouse') entered English around the sixteenth century as seafaring jargon, likely borrowed from Dutch, whose maritime vocabulary contributed many such terms to English. Its exact ultimate origin is uncertain. Separately, 'bowse' served for centuries as a variant spelling of 'booze', the Middle Dutch-derived word for heavy drinking, before that spelling settled into its modern form.
Related word forms
How bowse is actually used
Chiefly historical and nautical; rare in modern everyday English. The drinking sense is now standardly spelled 'booze'.
Easily confused with bowse
'Booze' means alcohol or heavy drinking; 'bowse' is primarily a nautical hauling term and only overlaps historically as an old spelling variant.
'Browse' means to survey or feed casually; 'bowse' means to haul on a rope or tackle.