A·thwart prep.
 1. Across; from side to side of.
    Athwart the thicket lone.   --Tennyson.
 2. Naut. Across the direction or course of; as, a fleet standing athwart our course.
 Athwart hawse, across the stem of another vessel, whether in contact or at a small distance.
 Athwart ships, across the ship from side to side, or in that direction; -- opposed to fore and aft.


 Hawse n.
 1. A hawse hole.
 2. Naut. (a) The situation of the cables when a vessel is moored with two anchors, one on the starboard, the other on the port bow. (b) The distance ahead to which the cables usually extend; as, the ship has a clear or open hawse, or a foul hawse; to anchor in our hawse, or athwart hawse. (c) That part of a vessel's bow in which are the hawse holes for the cables.
 Athwart hawse. See under Athwart.
 Foul hawse, a hawse in which the cables cross each other, or are twisted together.
 Hawse block, a block used to stop up a hawse hole at sea; -- called also hawse plug.
 Hawse piece, one of the foremost timbers of a ship, through which the hawse hole is cut.
 Hawse plug. Same as Hawse block (above).
 To come in at the hawse holes, to enter the naval service at the lowest grade. [Cant]
 To freshen the hawse, to veer out a little more cable and bring the chafe and strain on another part.

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