Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

bradawl

American  
[brad-awl] / ˈbrædˌɔl /

noun

Carpentry.
  1. an awl for making small holes in wood for brads.


bradawl British  
/ ˈbrædˌɔːl /

noun

  1. an awl used to pierce wood, leather, or other materials for the insertion of brads, screws, etc

"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

Etymology

Origin of bradawl

First recorded in 1815–25; brad + awl

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

Hilliard, with his hand on the outside of the barrel, stopped the work when he felt the point of the auger coming through, and he himself completed the hole from the outside with his bradawl.

From The Pit Prop Syndicate by Crofts, Freeman Wills

It twisted itself half round, then reverted to its former position, and again twisted itself, moving like a bradawl, not like a gimlet, which latter forms a complete revolution.

From A Book of Ghosts by Baring-Gould, S. (Sabine)

It would be hard to imagine anything more curious than this little carpenter, as she stands upright and brings her nasal bradawl down towards her body.

From Social Life in the Insect World by Miall, Bernard

So saying, the Prophet handed the bradawl, which he had craftily conveyed from the pantry on the previous night, to the astonished butler and walked swiftly into the breakfast-room.

From The Prophet of Berkeley Square by Hichens, Robert Smythe

Then he began to sing, in a shrill voice, that worked its way, as a bradawl through wood, past all the noise of the elements.

From The Heart of Denise and Other Tales by Levett-Yeats, S. (Sidney)

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training