bowstring

NounEdit

bowstring (plural bowstrings)

1. The string of an archer's bow.
2. (historical) A string used by the Turks for strangling offenders.

Derived termsEdit

• bowstring bridge
• bowstring girder
• bowstring hemp

TranslationsEdit

VerbEdit

bowstring (third-person singular simple present bowstrings, present participle bowstringing, simple past and past participle bowstrung or bowstringed)

1. (transitive) to strangle with a bowstring
   • 1850, Edgar Allan Poe, "The Thousand-and-Second Tale of Scheherazade":

     When the day broke ... it was high time for her to get up and be bowstrung—a thing very little more pleasant than hanging, only a trifle more genteel.