Oakum vs. Tow

Oakumnoun

A material, consisting of tarred fibres, used to caulk or pack joints in plumbing, masonry, and wooden shipbuilding.

Towverb

(transitive) To pull something behind one using a line or chain; to haul.

Oakumnoun

The coarse portion separated from flax or hemp in hackling.

Towverb

To aid someone behind by shielding them from wind resistance.

Oakumnoun

The material obtained by untwisting and picking into loose fiber old hemp ropes; - used for calking the seams of ships, stopping leaks, etc.

Townoun

The act of towing and the condition of being towed.

‘It isn't the car's battery; I think I need a tow.’;

Oakumnoun

The coarse portion separated from flax or hemp in nackling.

Townoun

Something, such as a tugboat, that tows.

Oakumnoun

loose hemp or jute fiber obtained by unravelling old ropes; when impregnated with tar it was used to caulk seams and pack joints in wooden ships

Townoun

Something, such as a barge, that is towed.

Oakum

Oakum is a preparation of tarred fibre used to seal gaps. Its main traditional applications were in shipbuilding, for caulking or packing the joints of timbers in wooden vessels and the deck planking of iron and steel ships; in plumbing, for sealing joints in cast iron pipe; and in log cabins for chinking.

Townoun

A rope or cable used in towing.

Townoun

(motor racing) A speed increase given by driving in front of another car on a straight, which causes a slipstream for the car behind.

Townoun

An untwisted bundle of fibers such as cellulose acetate, flax, hemp or jute.

Townoun

(specifically) The short, coarse, less desirable fibers separated by hackling from the finer longer fibers (line).

Townoun

The coarse and broken part of flax or hemp, separated from the finer part by the hatchel or swingle.

Townoun

A rope by which anything is towed; a towline, or towrope.

Townoun

The act of towing, or the state of being towed; - chiefly used in the phrase, to take in tow, that is to tow.

Townoun

That which is towed, or drawn by a towline, as a barge, raft, collection of boats, ect.

Towverb

To draw or pull through the water, as a vessel of any kind, by means of a rope.

Townoun

the act of hauling something (as a vehicle) by means of a hitch or rope;

‘the truck gave him a tow to the garage’;

Towverb

drag behind;

‘Horses used to tow barges along the canal’;