best bowern.1
/ˈbɛs(t) ˌbaʊə/, U.S. /ˈbɛs(t) ˌbaʊ(ə)r/ Nautical.
A large anchor carried at the starboard bow of a sailing ship. Cf. small-bower at bower n.4 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > equipment of vessel > anchoring equipment > [noun] > anchor > main or bower anchor
plight-anchor1508
plicht?a1513
bow-anchor1627
best bowera1647
bower-anchor1652
bower1709
a1647 P. Pette in Archaeologia (1796) 12 275 We broke our best bower, and were forced to let go our sheet anchor.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xv. 437 We hove in our Sheet Cable, and got up our Sheet Anchor, and cut away our best Bower.
1712 E. Cooke Voy. S. Sea x. 114 We anchor'd in the great Bay, our best Bower in 40 Fathom Water, and then carry'd the Stream-Anchor in with the Shore.
1795 A. Anderson Narr. Brit. Embassy China i. 26 We..anchored with the best bower.
1842 F. Marryat Percival Keene III. xix. 239 I shall back the best bower with the sheet, and let go the small bower at the same time.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 124 Starboard being the best bower, and port the small bower.
1962 Mariner's Mirror 48 139 The best bower..was always the sea or flood anchor.
1990 T. Cunliffe Easy on Helm ix. 97 Using the boat's lighter anchor for convenience it is often possible to kedge in water far too deep for the best bower and its chain cable.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
best bowern.2
/ˈbɛs(t) ˌbaʊə/, U.S. /ˈbɛs(t) ˌbaʊ(ə)r/ Euchre.
The joker, the highest-ranking card in some versions of euchre. Also in figurative contexts. Cf. right bower n. 2, left bower n. 2.
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society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > card game > euchre > [noun] > specific cards
left bower1839
right bower1839
best bower1852
bower1858
1852 Louisville (Kentucky) Daily Jrnl. 9 Oct. 4/1 Captain Tufts was heard to bawl, as he waved aloft his ‘best bower’.
1861 T. C. Faulkner Hist. Revol. Southern States 83 The old General, having a good hand, draws James Buchanan's best Bower, and takes three tricks.
1904 Notes & Queries 6 Feb. 116/2 In euchre it was called ‘the imperial trump’ or ‘best bower’.
2006 Guardian (Nexis) 4 Sept. (G2 section) 29 The game I've just described doesn't use one [sc. a joker]. In the variations that do, the joker is called ‘best bower’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2014; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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