dowel
/ˈdaʊəl/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.38 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position.
Example Sentences
- "This twenty-four-piece starter set uses twelve thirty-six-inch-long dowels (or nine forty-eight-inch dowels) cut to these rod lengths. Lay out the cuts so you use the entire length of each dowel without any leftover scraps."
- "The wheels were solid, two half discs dowelled against the hub, and the chariots were pulled along by oxen or asses."
- "A cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask."
Etymology
From Middle English dowle, dule, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French doelle (“the hollow part of a tool where the handle is”), from Frankish *duli (“hollow tube, pipe”), from Proto-Germanic *dulją (“pipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰel- (“curvature, hollow”). If so, then cognate with French douelle, douille. Alternatively from Middle Low German dövel (“peg, plug”), from Old Saxon *dubil, from Proto-Germanic *dubilaz. If so, then cognate with Dutch deuvel (“wooden peg”), German Dübel (“dowel”).