dowel

[ dou-uhl ]
See synonyms for dowel on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. Also called dowel pin .Carpentry. a pin, usually round, fitting into holes in two adjacent pieces to prevent their slipping or to align them.

  2. a piece of wood driven into a hole drilled in a masonry wall to receive nails, as for fastening woodwork.

  1. a round wooden rod of relatively small diameter.

  2. Dentistry. a peg, usually of metal, set into the root canal of a natural tooth to give additional support to an artificial crown.

verb (used with object),dow·eled, dow·el·ing or (especially British) dow·elled, dow·el·ling.
  1. to reinforce or furnish with a dowel or dowels.

Origin of dowel

1
1300–50; Middle English dowle<Middle Low German dovel plug; compare German Döbel, Dübel,Old High German tubili

Other words from dowel

  • un·dow·eled, adjective
  • un·dow·elled, adjective

Words Nearby dowel

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

How to use dowel in a sentence

  • The advantage of this cradle is obvious, preventing as it does any tendency of the partly-formed dowel to slip or wobble.

    Woodwork Joints | William Fairham
  • The template is put on the ends of the straight pole, and the dowel centres are pricked into the wood.

    Woodwork Joints | William Fairham
  • Fig. 192 shows a completed dowel with a small groove running along its entire length.

    Woodwork Joints | William Fairham
  • Fig. 209 shows the top portion of a table leg and a home-made dowel gauge.

    Woodwork Joints | William Fairham
  • When it sounds best, glue the dowel in place and allow it to dry before sawing it off and cutting the slanting part.

British Dictionary definitions for dowel

dowel

/ (ˈdaʊəl) /


noun
  1. a wooden or metal peg that fits into two corresponding holes to join two adjacent parts: Also called: dowel pin

Origin of dowel

1
C14: from Middle Low German dövel plug, from Old High German tubili; related to Greek thuphos wedge

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