hawser
/hɔːzə/
"hawser" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hawser” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A thick or heavy-duty cable or rope used to tow or moor a ship.
Corpus desk
Index EN-hawser · hawser · English
hawser · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "H" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hawser |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /hɔːzə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “hawser” in English
Rare enough to double-check
hawser is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /hɔːzə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A thick or heavy-duty cable or rope used to tow or moor a ship.".
Zero misspellings are on record for hawser in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English hauser, haucer, from Anglo-Norman haucer, from Vulgar Latin *altiāre (“to raise”), derived from Latin altus (“high”). Altered in English by mistaken association with hawse and perhaps haul. Compare French aussière, haussière. The correct English form is hawser, spelled H-A-W-S-E-R.
Definition
- 1A thick or heavy-duty cable or rope used to tow or moor a ship.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how hawser appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The hawser was as taut as a bowstring, and the current so strong she pulled upon her anchor. All around the hull, in the blackness, the rippling current bubbled and chattered like a little mountain stream.
A hatchet to my hawser? all adrift to go?
Etymology
From Middle English hauser, haucer, from Anglo-Norman haucer, from Vulgar Latin *altiāre (“to raise”), derived from Latin altus (“high”). Altered in English by mistaken association with hawse and perhaps haul. Compare French aussière, haussière.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.