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• cowl
  cowl

  noun

  a hooded garment worn by monks.
• Cowl
  Cowl

  noun

  Jane, 1884–1950, U.S. actress and playwright.

cowl

¹ American  

[koul] / kaʊl /

noun

• cowls
  plural

1. a hooded garment worn by monks.

2. the hood of this garment.

3. part of a garment that is draped to resemble a cowl or hood.

4. the forward part of the body of a motor vehicle supporting the rear of the hood and the windshield and housing the pedals and instrument panel.

5. a cowling.

6. a hoodlike covering for increasing the draft of a chimney or ventilator.

7. a wire netting fastened to the top of the smokestack of a locomotive to prevent large sparks from being discharged; a spark arrester.

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verb (used with object)

1. to cover with or as if with a cowl.

2. to put a monk's cowl on.

3. to make a monk of.

Cowl ² American  

[koul] / kaʊl /

noun

1. Jane, 1884–1950, U.S. actress and playwright.

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cowl British  

/ kaʊl /

noun

1. a hood, esp a loose one

2. the hooded habit of a monk

3. a cover fitted to a chimney to increase ventilation and prevent draughts

4. the part of a car body that supports the windscreen and the bonnet

5. aeronautics another word for cowling

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verb

1. to cover or provide with a cowl

2. to make a monk of

Usage

What does cowl mean? A cowl is a hood, especially a loose one. The hooded robe worn by some monks is called a cowl. Cowl is also used to refer to several objects that function as hoods, such as parts of some vehicles and the coverings at the top of chimneys. It can also be used as a verb meaning to cover something. More specifically, it can mean to make someone a monk. Example: The monk donned his cowl and left his bunk for morning prayer.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cowls
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cowl

before 1000; Middle English cou ( e ) le, Old English cugele, cūle < Late Latin cuculla monk's hood, variant of Latin cucullus hood

Explanation

A cowl is a very loose neck or hood on a piece of clothing. Christian monks often wear a belted robe-like garment with a cowl. Use the word cowl for the hood on a long, wide-sleeved garment, or to refer to the garment itself. The front of a cowl tends to be closed, rather than open like a cloak or a cape, and this was the reason cowls became the formal wear for monks during the Middle Ages — the closed cowl was warmer. Catholic and Anglican monks still wear cowls today. The Latin root of cowl is cucullus, or "hood."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cowl Cowl cowls

Finding a suit and cowl made just for him, Damian transforms into Little Batman in order to safeguard Wayne Manor and Gotham City from villains, including a rather mischievous Joker.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025

“To put on a Rick Owens sequined cowl or knee-high leather stocking boots is to express oneself in a language not everyone understands.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2024

But Finger refined it; he created Batman’s iconic bat-eared cowl, his bat logo and scalloped cape.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 3, 2023

Batman’s cowl and Iron Man’s mask appear in Briscoe’s paintings, but another sort of comics character especially haunts “Thought Bubbles,” the artist’s DC Arts Center show.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 3, 2023

He stood up, and as he did, his cowl fell back from his face.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

But any benefits from altitude in coping with a coronavirus infection, Chin-Hong and Cowl said, would come only with full acclimatization, a process that typically takes three months.

From Washington Post ● May 31, 2020

Cowl notes that prolonged exposure to altitude triggers a chain reaction in the lungs involving a protein known as ACE2 that might prevent pulmonary shunting, a problem common among covid-19 patients.

From Washington Post ● May 31, 2020

Paul Bettany, voted "Most Likely to Wear a Cowl" at Drama Centre London, is a caped crusader once again in "Priest," a mad mash-up of sci-fi, Western, sacrilegious silliness and vampire movie.

From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2011

An exceptionally gifted cast to support the exceptionally gifted Miss Cowl was assembled by the Frohman Co.

From Time Magazine Archive

In the end they decided that it might be wiser not to conceal Audrey’s knowledge of the existence of a second key; and they told Mr. Cowl, because he happened to be at hand.

From The Lion's Share by Arnold Bennett

The collars this season were a nod to the past, evoking the ruffled cowls and buttoned neck fastenings of coats reminiscent of the 19th century.

From Seattle Times ● Jan. 20, 2024

Yet Serebrennikov wisely pivots to a more operatic approach in the second half with a large chorus of singers and dancers, all in black monk’s cowls.

From New York Times ● Jul. 14, 2022

They both had their cowls on, so Batman had his whole mask on, and so did Catwoman, and then I realized that they had actually taken them off a couple of pages earlier.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2017

Her weakness in combat, when compared to the capes and cowls around her?

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2016

With their black hoods and thick black cowls, the six might have been carved from shadow.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin