pawl

[ pawl ]

noun
  1. a pivoted bar adapted to engage with the teeth of a ratchet wheel or the like so as to prevent movement or to impart motion.

verb (used with object)
  1. to check or hold with a pawl.

Origin of pawl

1
First recorded in 1620–30, pawl is from the Dutch word pal ratchet

Words Nearby pawl

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

How to use pawl in a sentence

  • When the tympanum vibrates under the influence of the voice, the stylus acts as a pawl and turns a ratchet-wheel.

  • A table was fixed between the fore-mast and the windlass pawl-post, and lockers ran around the lower-bunks and were used as seats.

    The Viking Blood | Frederick William Wallace
  • Pauldron, pawl′dron, n. a separable shoulder-plate in medieval armour.

  • An' this ratchet-wheel isn't on the pawl prop'ly—not like what this book says it ought to be.

    More William | Richmal Crompton
  • On the lower horizontal roller carrying the supply of paper is a ratchet and pawl movement, actuated by a solenoid.

    Practical Cinematography and Its Applications | Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot

British Dictionary definitions for pawl

pawl

/ (pɔːl) /


noun
  1. a pivoted lever shaped to engage with a ratchet wheel to prevent motion in a particular direction

Origin of pawl

1
C17: perhaps from Dutch pal pawl

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