Why this word is great
HAWSER — [Noun] A thick, heavy-duty rope or cable, traditionally of twisted fiber, used to moor or tow a ship. From Middle English haucer, from Anglo-Norman haucer, from Vulgar Latin *altiāre ("to raise"), from Latin altus ("high"), with later alteration in English due to association with hawse and haul. Unlike a "cable," which speaks of braided wire and waterproof sheathing, or a "line," the ship's all-purpose, lighter cordage, a hawser is the brute tendon of hemp or manila, built for strain. It is the groaning, tarred spine connecting hull to quay in a storm; the deep-bitten furrow it carves into a wooden capstan; the last wet, slackening length paid out before a vessel is fast. It bears, in its every fiber, the patient tension between voyage and return.