gunnel

1
[ guhn-l ]

noun
  1. any small eellike blenny of the family Pholididae (Pholidae), especially Pholis gunnellus(rock gunnel, orbutterfish ), common in shallow waters of the North Atlantic.

Origin of gunnel

1
First recorded in 1680–90; origin uncertain
  • Also called brack·et·ed blen·ny.

Words Nearby gunnel

Other definitions for gunnel (2 of 2)

gunnel2
[ guhn-l ]

nounNautical.

Origin of gunnel

2
1425–75; Middle English. See gunwale

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use gunnel in a sentence

  • So maybe you don’t want to be out there with a sledgehammer in the winter breaking ice off the gunnels.

  • One would think that the ballast of the ship was shifted with us, and that our Constitution had the gunnel under water.

  • A fisherman stood in the bow and pulled the line up from the bottom over a lignumvitæ roller fixed in the bow-gunnel.

    The Viking Blood | Frederick William Wallace
  • Now hard-a-port still—for we've the gunnel Dogs somewhere there to leeward, and they're worse almost than Hell-deeps.'

    Major Vigoureux | A. T. Quiller-Couch
  • North of the gunnel here there's an eddy slack where the tides meet, and you may count on thirty fathoms.'

    Major Vigoureux | A. T. Quiller-Couch
  • She is 50 feet long, 12 feet wide—the gunnels and gunnel plank are oak, and the rest of her poplar.

British Dictionary definitions for gunnel (1 of 2)

gunnel1

/ (ˈɡʌnəl) /


noun
  1. any eel-like blennioid fish of the family Pholidae, occurring in coastal regions of northern seas: See also butterfish

Origin of gunnel

1
C17: of unknown origin

British Dictionary definitions for gunnel (2 of 2)

gunnel2

/ (ˈɡʌnəl) /


noun
  1. a variant spelling of gunwale

Origin of gunnel

2
C15: from gun + wale 1 from its use to support guns

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012