Anything towed in the water to retard a ship's progress, or to keep her head up to the wind; esp.
A rope or hawser by which a vessel is towed or warped along; -- so called because it is necessary to guess at the length to be carried in the boat making the attachment to a distant object.
There are improved logs, consisting of a piece of mechanism which, being towed astern, shows the distance actually gone through by the ship, by means of the revolutions of a fly, which are registered on a dial plate.
They were foiled by the valour of the British seamen who, under a heavy fire, grappled the blazing ships and towed them ashore.
The others who were too ill to do anything for themselves were either brought aboard our boat in the same way, or else they were tied to one of the dugouts, and towed along in the water.
We went on board a narrow passenger boat towed by two horses, and followed by two freight barges.
There was too much sea on to hoist in the boat, as there were no davits, and while she was being towed in she ran ahead of the vessel, which went over her and filled her with water.
Landing, they quickly towed her through the moat to the entrance, where she could lie protected from an enemy.
Saying this he slipped off, and grasping hold of his horse's tail, was towed across, while he laughed and shouted to Percy to imitate his example.
As daylight appeared, I ordered the whole of the rafts to be towed off, there being no further use in their remaining exposed to the heavy fire of the batteries.
Harris on his return towed a raft comprising ten acres of logs.
Smith Harris, towed through the two lakes, St. Croix and Pepin, a fleet containing ten acres of logs.
The one Ranger who had not leaped into the water was Abe Cruger, who, realizing the impossibility of swimming in his "Bill Bullseye" garments, contented himself with tumbling into the boat that towed astern and casting her loose.
If the prize was a very large one, the captors usually towed it into Algiers at once, but small vessels were generally sent home under a lieutenant and a jury-crew of Moors.
This made the matter one which required decisive action, and so the prize was towed to Gibraltar, and Preble sailed for Tangiers to demand satisfaction.
One would lie out under the trees at night and be towed down the river by day, and if we saw anythin' nice we'd shout out and tell 'em to stop.
The boat which was towed behind them was brought to the side, and the ladies were helped into it.
But soon it was perceived that such was not the intention, for in the dim light the big brig could be seen approaching, towed by a dozen boat's crews working at the oars.
The great boat was rowing in directly on that gun as if towed by a line.
And I did the same, and the way he towed us over the water would have frightened a steamboat.
Motioning to his friends to enter the boat, he towed them to the center of the river, where he loosed the fastenings, and without a word or sign he headed his canoe up stream and sped away.
Later arrivals, after the breeze failed, were towed in by the smart motor craft of the fleet.
In a few minutes she was flying before the gale, rolling heavily, and occasionally striking upon the wrecks of the masts, which she towed with her by the lee-rigging.
Spars were towed astern, and every means resorted to, to check her way.
Of course, the fast boat in each case remained and moved only astowed by the whale.
As there was no ice to endanger the boat, the line was put several times around the bollard head and kept very tight, so we were towed much faster than if it had been loose.
We had a large number of punts on board and one was towed astern in the daytime and with it every seal was picked up.
After some time the whale was killed and towed to the ship, which was reached about three o'clock in the morning.
The whale came up between the boat and the ship, and we were being towed down the Sound.
In full daylight the enemy sailed off with their captive vessels and towed the flag-ship up the Lippe as an offering to Veleda.
The number of the Germans soon increased: both sides gradually gathered reinforcements and a regular battle was fought, with the result that the Germans towed off the ship, inflicting heavy losses.
Another party fell on the ships, threw hawsers aboard, and towed them off.
The ship's dinghy, with a couple of hands, towed the boat, with Dias in it, to the shore.
As soon as she gathered way the men in the boats were called in, the boats themselves being towed behind in case they might again be required.
I melted the blubber of the whale in the boat's baler, for we had towed the fish ashore.
After having towed our whale to the ship, cutting in was immediately begun.
She was towed past Trentemoult and Chantenay into the wide reach of the river just below Chevire where, as you know, the Loire is nearly two thousand feet wide.
Lawrence, was towed to that point of the bar where the water was deepest.
At 7 in the evening the wind almost died out, and for four more weary hours the worn-out sailors towed and kedged.
A survey of the spot and the channels leading to it showed that the plan was feasible; and, with ship's boats and native canoes, the Golden Boar was towed to her anchorage, and preparations for the boat journey were at once begun.
Then a flotilla of canoes towed the stout ship into the main channel!
They were to be towedover to the Canada shore, about twenty-five miles distant.
Ladders were to be constructed and triced up along the attacking ships' masts; and the ships to be towed along side the walls by the steamers of the squadron.
The trusses were all constructed in the contractor's yard at Bridgeport, and were towed across the Sound on a scow.
After thorough inspection and seasoning, they are usually launched in a manner somewhat similar to a boat, are towed into position, sunk in place, and then filled with rip-rap.
The next caisson was then towed out, set against the floating spacer, and sunk in position.
The ships were towed down the Euphrates and the Tigris [or they may have been transported overland by camels].
Thus in a few minutes we got her triumphantly afloat, and while she was being towed out from the shore I was sent in my boat to set fire to the sloop which lay nearly a mile from the other vessels.
The above list will hopefully give you a few useful examples demonstrating the appropriate usage of "towed" in a variety of sentences. We hope that you will now be able to make sentences using this word.
