Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The cord attached to both ends of an archer's bow.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To furnish with a bowstring.
  • To strangle with a bowstring.
  • noun The string of a bow, by which it is drawn and the arrow discharged.
  • noun A similar string used for strangling offenders in the Ottoman empire; hence, by metonymy, execution by strangling.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To strangle with a bowstring.
  • noun The string of a bow.
  • noun A string used by the Turks for strangling offenders.
  • noun a bridge formed of an arch of timber or iron, often braced, the thrust of which is resisted by a tie forming a chord of the arch.
  • noun an arched beam strengthened by a tie connecting its two ends.
  • noun (Bot.) the tenacious fiber of the Sanseviera Zeylanica, growing in India and Africa, from which bowstrings are made.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun the string of an archer's bow
  • verb transitive to strangle with a bowstring

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the string of an archer's bow

Etymologies

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