Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Bowstring \Bow"string`\, n.
   1. The string of a bow.

   2. A string used by the Turks for strangling offenders.

   {Bowstring bridge}, a bridge formed of an arch of timber or
      iron, often braced, the thrust of which is resisted by a
      tie forming a chord of the arch.

   {Bowstring girder}, an arched beam strengthened by a tie
      connecting its two ends.

   {Bowstring hemp} (Bot.), the tenacious fiber of the
      {Sanseviera Zeylanica}, growing in India and Africa, from
      which bowstrings are made. --Balfour.