Definition of "bowse"

bowse¹

verb
third-person singular simple present bowses, present participle bowsing, simple past and past participle bowsed
1. (archaic) To drink excessively and socially; to carouse.
  Quotations
  O generous food! Drest as though bold Robin Hood, Would, with his maid Marian, Sup and bowse from horn and can.
  1820, John Keats, “Lines on the Mermaid Tavern”, in Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, London: […] [Thomas Davison] for Taylor and Hessey, […], page 131
noun
plural bowses
1. A carouse; a drinking bout; a booze.

bowse²

verb
third-person singular simple present bowses, present participle bowsing, simple past and past participle bowsed
1. (nautical) To haul or hoist (something) with a tackle.