bowse

B3O1W4S1E1

verb

To drink excessively and socially; to carouse.

Similar
bouse
OriginMiddle English bousen ← Middle Dutch būsen →
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Meanings

bowse1

verbbowse (third-person singular simple present bowses, present participle bowsing, simple past and past participle bowsed)

present singular third person bowses · participle present bowsing · participle past bowsed · past bowsed · alternative bouse

  1. archaicTo drink excessively and socially; to carouse.

    O generous food! Drest as though bold Robin Hood, Would, with his maid Marian, Sup and bowse from horn and can.

    1820, John Keats, “Lines on the Mermaid Tavern”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], →OCLC, page 131
nounbowse (plural bowses)

plural bowses · alternative bouse

  1. A carouse; a drinking bout; a booze.

bowse2

verbbowse (third-person singular simple present bowses, present participle bowsing, simple past and past participle bowsed)

present singular third person bowses · participle present bowsing · participle past bowsed · past bowsed · alternative bouse

  1. nauticalTo haul or hoist (something) with a tackle.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbhaul with a tackle

Similar
bouse
Broader
haulhalecart
Also see
bouse

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

bowse · verb, noun

  1. Middle Dutchbūsen
  2. Middle Englishbousen
  3. Englishbowse

From Middle English bousen, from Middle Dutch būsen, buisen, buysen (“to drink heavily”) (Dutch buizen). Related to Middle High German būsen (“to swell, inblow”). More at beer.

More words from Middle English, Middle Dutch

Full word history & related roots →

bowse · verb

Origin unknown.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

bowesbesow
Cite this entry
APA

bowse. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bowse

MLA

“bowse.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bowse. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bowse,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bowse.

Source: bowse on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.