oarlock means A usually U-shaped device attached to the gunwale of a rowboat to hold the oars in place while rowing. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 80 out of 100.
Etymology
From oar + lock.
noun
- A usually U-shaped device attached to the gunwale of a rowboat to hold the oars in place while rowing.“But, as luck would have it, scarcely had he started to row his boat again when an oarlock broke, and so it took him the best part of an hour to make the trip.”