[rou-uh
l] 
noun, verb, -eled, -el⋅ing or (especially British) -elled, -el⋅ling.| 1. | a small wheel with radiating points, forming the extremity of a spur. |
| 2. | Veterinary Medicine. a piece of leather or the like inserted beneath the skin of a horse or other animal to promote drainage of an infection. |
| 3. | to prick or urge with a rowel. |
| 4. | Veterinary Medicine. to insert a rowel in. |
| row·el (rou'əl) n. A sharp-toothed wheel inserted into the end of the shank of a spur. [Middle English, from Old French roelle, diminutive of roue, wheel, from Latin rota; see ret- in Indo-European roots.] row'el v. |