Past tense of 'bowse': to drink excessively or to haul on a rope using nautical equipment.
From Dutch 'buizen' (to drink), combined with nautical terminology. The nautical sense emerged in the 17th century among sailors who adopted the drinking term for rope-hauling actions.
Sailors loved their booze so much they named a rope-hauling technique after drinking! The word 'bowsed' captures both the drunken stumbling and the coordinated pulling sailors needed—same word, wildly different meanings.
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