(n.) The upper edge of a vessel's or boat's side; the uppermost wale of a ship (not including the bulwarks); or that piece of timber which reaches on either side from the quarter-deck to the forecastle, being the uppermost bend, which finishes the upper works of the hull.
Example Sentences:
(1) Fog creeping into the cabooses of collier-brigs; fog lying out on the yards and hovering in the rigging of great ships; fog drooping on the gunwales of barges and small boats.
(2) Put to bed images of retirees shuffling about in deck shoes though: these boats were stuffed to the gunwales with 21 to 35-year-olds, drinking, partying and the aforementioned kamikaze plunging off the top deck.
Rowlock
Definition:
(n.) A contrivance or arrangement serving as a fulcrum for an oar in rowing. It consists sometimes of a notch in the gunwale of a boat, sometimes of a pair of pins between which the oar rests on the edge of the gunwale, sometimes of a single pin passing through the oar, or of a metal fork or stirrup pivoted in the gunwale and suporting the oar.
Example Sentences:
(1) He would bring back a gondolier's rowlock from Venice; he would haul hollowed logs or curious roots out of the river to lie on the lawn; he would explain the workings of the Japanese deer-scarer or he would arrange single branches of leaves or flowers, Japanese style, the better to admire the colour of the stems, the shape of the leaves, the streaks in the bark.
(2) A snifter of Clearsky’s Rowlock IPA, another popular local beer, was very citrusy on a lemon-lime axis and, if a bit too sweet, enjoyable.
(3) Give it a few more days and everyone will be talking rowlocks.