bowse
verb, noun
Also a form of bouse
Forms bowses bowsing bowsed bouse
- verb (archaic) To drink excessively and socially; to carouse.
- noun A carouse; a drinking bout; a booze.
- verb (nautical) To haul or hoist (something) with a tackle.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English bousen, from Middle Dutch būsen, buisen, buysen (“to drink heavily”) (Dutch buizen). Related to Middle High German būsen (“to swell, inblow”). More at beer.
Origin unknown.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To carouse; to bouse; to booze. De Quincey.
- verb To pull or haul; as, to bowse upon a tack; to bowse away, i. e., to pull all together.
- noun A carouse; a drinking bout; a booze.
Etymology [See Booze, and Bouse.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “bowse”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details