·noun A rope or chain to confine the bowsprit of a ship downward to the stem or cutwater;
— usually in the ·pl
These are made with large rope, and an eye spliced in each end; they are secured round the bowsprit,...
The Sailor's Word-Book
Those cut through the fore-part of the knee of the head, between the cheeks, for the admission of th...
Iron plates by which the lower end of the bobstay is attached to the stem. ...