Oar

• POS: Noun, Verb (usu participle)

CIDE DICTIONARY

Oar, n [AS. ār; akin to Icel. ār, Dan. aare, Sw. åra; perh. akin to E. row, v. Cf. Rowlock.].

•  An implement for impelling a boat, being a slender piece of timber, usually ash or spruce, with a grip or handle at one end and a broad blade at the other. The part which rests in the rowlock is called the loom.  [1913 Webster]

  " An oar is a kind of long paddle, which swings about a kind of fulcrum, called a rowlock, fixed to the side of the boat."  [1913 Webster]
•  An oarsman; a rower; as, he is a good oar.  [1913 Webster]
•  An oarlike swimming organ of various invertebrates.  [1913 Webster]

Oar cock (Zoöl.), the water rail. [Prov. Eng.] -- Spoon oar, an oar having the blade so curved as to afford a better hold upon the water in rowing. -- To boat the oars, to cease rowing, and lay the oars in the boat. -- To feather the oars. See under Feather., v. t. -- To lie on the oars, to cease pulling, raising the oars out of water, but not boating them; to cease from work of any kind; to be idle; to rest. -- To muffle the oars, to put something round that part which rests in the rowlock, to prevent noise in rowing. -- To put in one's oar, to give aid or advice; -- commonly used of a person who obtrudes aid or counsel not invited. -- To ship the oars, to place them in the rowlocks. -- To toss the oars, To peak the oars, to lift them from the rowlocks and hold them perpendicularly, the handle resting on the bottom of the boat. -- To trail oars, to allow them to trail in the water alongside of the boat. -- To unship the oars, to take them out of the rowlocks.

Oar, v. t. & i. 

 To row.  Shak.  [1913 Webster]
"Oared with laboring arms."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Oar, n.
1 a pole with a blade used for rowing or steering a boat by leverage against the water.
2 a rower.

Idiom

put one's oar in interfere, meddle. rest (US lay) on one's oars relax one's efforts.

Derivative

oared adj. (also in comb.). oarless adj.

Etymology

OE ar f. Gmc, perh. rel. to Gk eretmos oar

THESAURUS

Oar

bargee, bargeman, barger, boat-handler, boater, boatman, boatsman, ferrier, ferryman, galley slave, gondolier, lighterman, oarsman, paddle, pole, pull, punter, row, rower, scull, steering oar, sweep, waterman, yachter, yachtsman

ROGET THESAURUS

Oar

Instrument

N instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial, instrument, machinery, mechanism, engineering, instrument, organ, tool, implement, utensil, machine, engine, lathe, gin, mill, air engine, caloric engine, heat engine, gear, tackle, tackling, rig, rigging, apparatus, appliances, plant, materiel, harness, trappings, fittings, accouterments, barde, equipment, equipmentage, appointments, furniture, upholstery, chattels, paraphernalia, mechanical powers, lever, leverage, mechanical advantage, crow, crowbar, handspike, gavelock, jemmy, jimmy, arm, limb, wing, oar, paddle, pulley, wheel and axle, wheelwork, clockwork, wheels within wheels, pinion, crank, winch, cam, pedal, capstan, wheel, inclined plane, wedge, screw, spring, mainspring, can hook, glut, heald, heddle, jenny, parbuckle, sprag, water wheel, handle, hilt, haft, shaft, heft, shank, blade, trigger, tiller, helm, treadle, key, turnscrew, screwdriver, knocker, hammer, edge tool, borer, vice, teeth, nail, rope, peg, support, spoon, arms, oar, cardiograph, recapper, snowplow, tenpenny, votograph, instrumental, mechanical, machinal, brachial.

Navigation

N navigation, aquatics, boating, yachting, ship, oar, paddle, screw, sail, canvas, aileron, natation, swimming, fin, flipper, fish's tail, aerostation, aerostatics, aeronautics, balloonery, balloon, ballooning, aviation, airmanship, flying, flight, volitation, wing, pinion, rocketry, space travel, astronautics, orbital mechanics, orbiting, voyage, sail, cruise, passage, circumnavigation, periplus, headway, sternway, leeway, fairway, mariner, flight, trip, shuttle, run, airlift, sailing, volant, aerostatic, seafaring, nautical, maritime, naval, seagoing, coasting, afloat, navigable, aerial, aeronautic, grallatory, under way, under sail, under canvas, under steam, on the wing, in flight, in orbit, bon voyage, spread the thin oar and catch the driving gale.

Mariner

N sailor, mariner, navigator, seaman, seafarer, seafaring man, dock walloper, tar, jack tar, salt, able seaman, A, B, man-of-war's man, bluejacket, galiongee, galionji, marine, jolly, midshipman, middy, skipper, shipman, boatman, ferryman, waterman, lighterman, bargeman, longshoreman, bargee, gondolier, oar, oarsman, rower, boatswain, cockswain, coxswain, steersman, pilot, crew, aerial navigator, aeronaut, balloonist, Icarus, aeroplanist, airman, aviator, birdman, man-bird, wizard of the air, aviatrix, flier, pilot, test pilot, glider pilot, bush pilot, navigator, flight attendant, steward, stewardess, crew, astronaut, cosmonaut, parachutist, paratrooper.