hawsehole

Etymology

hawse + hole

noun

1. (nautical) The hole through which a ship's anchor rope is passed.
   The bolsters can be seen outboard of the hawseholes, and the way they are cut away to permit the passage of the anchor-cables. 1986, Jean Boudriot, The Seventy-four Gun Ship, page 59
   Then he saw. a few feet aft of the hawsehole, a darker spot on the hull—someone had left a porthole open below the forecastle. in the hold that was the crews' quarters. 2002, David Sherman, Demontech, Book 1: Onslaught, page 21
   Its overlapping steel plates and the empty hawseholes, from which the anchors will soon be suspended, are visible. 2004, Nelson H. Lawry, Glen M. Williford, Leo K. Polaski, Portsmouth Harbor's Military and Naval Heritage, page 86
2. (nautical) A hole in a ship through which a hawser is passed.