bow

bow v1 Occas with ~in [Specialized use of bow [bo] to bend into a curve] NEast, Sth ?obs Cf blind n 1

To fix (shutters or hinged blinds) so that they are slightly open; hence ppl adj bowed.

1866 Arthur Our Neighbors 265 NEast, In two of the prison-like houses on one side of the street . . the shutters of the second and third stories were just a little bowed, as the ladies call it. In the others, they were as tightly closed as if the houses were tenantless. 1878 Bucks Co. Gaz. (Bristol PA) 12 Sept [3]/3 (newspaperarchive.com), She heard a suspicious noise . . and looking out through the bowed shutters, saw a wagon near the house and three men. 1884 Carpentry & Building 6.158, Brooke & Co., Royersford, Pa., have put on the market the shutter bolt represented in Fig. 9. . . In the illustration which we give it is represented as attached to shutters which are bowed, a term which will be understood by some of our readers as denoting their position when fastened partly open. 1890 Manufacturer & Builder 22.259, The second . . represents a combined lock or fastener and adjuster, which enables the blinds to be bowed and held firmly in two positions. 1904 Smart Set Mar 15 SC, He heard the shutter of an upper window pushed back, and Miss Jane’s head . . looked out over the quiet lawn. . . In a moment, however, she withdrew, bowing the shutter. 1923 DN 5.243 LA, Bow the blinds. . . To close the shutters till they nearly meet. 1934 Genl. Mag. & Hist. Chron. 37.57 Philadelphia PA (as of c1870), We will see, as we walk down Chestnut street, that nearly all the shutters are solid, particularly on the ground floor. I understand these shutters were made solid in order that when they were “bowed in” (a Philadelphia expression I think) they kept the rooms cool in hot weather. 1953 Syracuse Herald–Jrl. (NY) 18 Sept 6/1, There was the old house with its dusky parlor, and bowed shutters and shrubs in the summer fireplace.