oarlock

Etymology

oar + lock

noun

  1. (nautical) A usually U-shaped device attached to the gunwale of a rowboat to hold the oars in place while rowing.
    But, as luck would have it, scarcely had he started to row his boat again when an oarlock broke, and so it took him the best part of an hour to make the trip. 1906, Horatio Alger, Joe the Hotel Boy

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