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Something fantastical; any trifling, trumpery thing; a toy. Art thou good at these kickshawses! Shak.

linen thread or string; a slender, strong cord; also, a cord of any thickness; a rope; a hawser; as, a fishing line; a line for snaring birds; a clothesline; a towline. Who so layeth lines for to latch fowls. Piers Plowman.

f the deck, having a bulkhead athwart ships high enough to prevent water which enters the hawse holes from running over it.

A hawser passed round the capstan, and having its two ends lashed together to form an endless rope or chain; -- formerly used for heaving in the cable.

harmony the tones of which are widely dispersed, or separated by wide intervals. -- Open hawse (Naut.), a hawse in which the cables are parallel or slightly divergent. Cf. Foul hawse, under Hawse. -- Open hearth (Metal.), the shallow hearth of a reverberatory furnace. -- Open-hearth furnace, a reverberatory furnace;…

d a hold for nails. Fire plug, a street hydrant to which hose may be attached. [U. S.] -- Hawse plug (Naut.), a plug to stop a hawse hole. -- Plug and feather. (Stone Working) See Feather, n., 7. -- Plug centerbit, a centerbit ending in a small cylinder instead of a point, so as to follow and enlarge a hole previousl…

To let go or slacken suddenly, as a rope; as, to surge a hawser or messenger; also, to slacken the rope about (a capstan).

th one end attached to an anchor, a post, or other fixed object; a towing line; a warping hawser.