cowl
/kaʊl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.87 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover the face; a robe with such a hood attached to it.
noun
A thin protective covering over all or part of an engine; also cowling.
noun
A ship's ventilator with a bell-shaped top which can be swivelled to catch the wind and force it below.
noun
A monk.
Example Sentences
- "c. 1536, William Tyndale, An Exposycyon vpon the v. vi. vii. Chapters of Mathewe, An Exposycyon of the syxte Capiter, And therfore al our monkes whose professyon was neuer to eate fleshe, set vp the Pope and toke dispensacyons bothe for that faste and also for theyr strayte rules, and made theyr strayte rules as wyde as the hodes of theyr cowles."
- ""What differ more (you cry) than Crown and Cowl?" / I'll tell you, friend: a Wiſe man and a Fool."
- "The hermit, as if wishing to answer to the confidence of his guest, threw back his cowl, and showed a round bullet head belonging to a man in the prime of life."
- "The roof came down steep and black like a cowl, reaching out beyond the wide galleries that encircled the yellow stuccoed house."
- "She brought the corner of the quilt over his head like a cowl and pulled it down over his face."
- "[…] fire was spurting up from the torn engine cowl and glowing in the cockpit."
Etymology
From Middle English coule, from Old English cūle, from earlier cugele (“hood, cowl”), from Ecclesiastical Latin cuculla (“monk's cowl”), from Latin cucullus (“hood”), of uncertain origin. Doublet of cagoule.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kaʊl/
- British English: /kaʊl/
Usage
- Transitive verb
- British usage
- Obsolete
Inflected Forms
cowls (plural)
cowls (present, singular)
cowling (participle, present)
cowled (participle, past)
cowled (past)
more cowl (comparative)
most cowl (superlative)