Bowstring

Full definition of bowstring

Noun

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

Derived terms

• bowstring bridge
• bowstring girder
• bowstring hemp

Verb

1. (transitive) to strangle with a bowstring
• 1850, Edgar Allan Poe, :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.