Definition of "bowsprit" [bow•sprit]

• Nautical A spar, extending forward from the stem of a ship, to which the stays of the foremast are fastened. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Adonis _Adonis_ apropos _apropo_ bowsprit _bowsprit_ brooch _broch_ not _broosh_ compromise _compromize_ jowl _jol_, not like _owl_ molecular _molecular_ ogle _ogle_ trow _tro_ vocable _vocable_ zoology _zoology_, not _zoo_"
• "A bowsprit is a precarious bridge; the boarding party was on a virtual suicide mission."
• "Rising from the calm surface of the sea beneath the bowsprit was a line of crabs."