bower

n. [ From Bow, v. & n. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. One who bows or bends. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Naut.) An anchor carried at the bow of a ship. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A muscle that bends a limb, esp. the arm. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

His rawbone arms, whose mighty brawned bowers
Were wont to rive steel plates and helmets hew. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

Best bower,
Small bower. See the Note under Anchor. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Bough, cf. Brancher. ] (Falconry) A young hawk, when it begins to leave the nest. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ G. bauer a peasant. So called from the figure sometimes used for the knave in cards. See Boor. ] One of the two highest cards in the pack commonly used in the game of euchre. [ 1913 Webster ]

Right bower, the knave of the trump suit, the highest card (except the “Joker”) in the game. --
Left bower, the knave of the other suit of the same color as the trump, being the next to the right bower in value. --
Best bower or
Joker, in some forms of euchre and some other games, an extra card sometimes added to the pack, which takes precedence of all others as the highest card. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To lodge. [ Obs. ] Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To embower; to inclose. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

. (Metal.) A certain process for producing upon articles of iron or steel an adherent coating of the magnetic oxide of iron (which is not liable to corrosion by air, moisture, or ordinary acids). This is accomplished by producing, by oxidation at about 1600° F. in a closed space, a coating containing more or less of the ferric oxide (Fe2O3) and the subsequent change of this in a reduced atmosphere to the magnetic oxide (Fe2O4). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

(Zool.) An Australian bird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus or Ptilonorhynchus holosericeus), allied to the starling. The male constructs singular bowers or playhouses of twigs and decorates them with bright-colored objects to attract females; the satin bird. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The name is also applied to other related birds of the same region, having similar habits; as, the spotted bower bird (Chalmydodera maculata), and the regent bird (Sericulus melinus). [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Characteristic of the street called the Bowery, in New York city; swaggering; flashy. [ 1913 Webster ]