Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Athwart \A*thwart"\, prep. [Pref. a- + thwart.]
   1. Across; from side to side of.

            Athwart the thicket lone.             --Tennyson.

   2. (Naut.) Across the direction or course of; as, a fleet
      standing athwart our course.

   {Athwart hawse}, across the stem of another vessel, whether
      in contact or at a small distance.

   {Athwart ships}, across the ship from side to side, or in
      that direction; -- opposed to {fore and aft}.

Hawse \Hawse\ (h[add]z or h[add]s; 277), n. [Orig. a hawse hole,
   or hole in the ship; cf. Icel. hals, h[=a]ls, neck, part of
   the bows of a ship, AS. heals neck. See {Collar}, and cf.
   {Halse} to embrace.]
   1. A hawse hole. --Harris.

   2. (Naut.)
      (a) The situation of the cables when a vessel is moored
          with two anchors, one on the starboard, the other on
          the port bow.
      (b) The distance ahead to which the cables usually extend;
          as, the ship has a clear or open hawse, or a foul
          hawse; to anchor in our hawse, or athwart hawse.
      (c) That part of a vessel's bow in which are the hawse
          holes for the cables.

   {Athwart hawse}. See under {Athwart}.

   {Foul hawse}, a hawse in which the cables cross each other,
      or are twisted together.

   {Hawse block}, a block used to stop up a hawse hole at sea;
      -- called also {hawse plug}.

   {Hawse hole}, a hole in the bow of a ship, through which a
      cable passes.

   {Hawse piece}, one of the foremost timbers of a ship, through
      which the hawse hole is cut.

   {Hawse plug}. Same as {Hawse block} (above).

   {To come in at the hawse holes}, to enter the naval service
      at the lowest grade. [Cant]

   {To freshen the hawse}, to veer out a little more cable and
      bring the chafe and strain on another part.