awl
UK/ɔːl/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/oːl/
awl noun: a pointed instrument for piercing small holes, as in leather or wood; used by shoemakers, saddlers, cabinetmakers, etc. The blade is differently shaped and pointed for different uses, as in the brad awl, saddler's awl, shoemaker's awl, etc.
Noun
awl (plural awls)
- A pointed instrument for piercing small holes, as in leather or wood; used by shoemakers, saddlers, cabinetmakers, etc. The blade is differently shaped and pointed for different uses, as in the brad awl, saddler's awl, shoemaker's awl, etc.
- He dressed himself in some old ragged clothes, and took a tame white bear, which he had, with him, as well as an awl, some pitch, and twine.1886, Peter Christen Asbjørnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 149
- Any of various hesperiid butterflies.
Adjective capitalized: AWL
AWL (not comparable)
- Alternative form of AWOL (“absent without leave”).
Proper noun capitalized: AWL
AWL
- Initialism of Alliance for Workers' Liberty.
awl meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Telugu and Sanskrit
awl in Hindi
- pointed instrument
- सूजा sūjā, आर ār
awl in Urdu
- pointed instrument
- آر ār, سُوجا sūjā
awl in Telugu
- pointed instrument
- ఆరె āre
awl in Sanskrit
- pointed instrument
- आरा ārā
More languagesFewer languages
- awl in Pashto
- نېش neš
- awl in Tagalog
- punson, suligi, balibol, pambalibol
- awl in Arabic
- مِخْرَز miḵraz, إِشْفَى ʔišfā
- awl in Indonesian
- alat pelubang
- awl in Thai
- จึ้ง jʉ̂ng, เหล็กหมาด lèk-màat, เหล็กแหลม lèk-lɛ̌ɛm, เหล็กเจาะ lèk-jɔ̀
- awl in Vietnamese
- giùi, dùi, lẹm, kim chọc
- awl in Myanmar
- လက်စွဲချွန် lakcwai:hkywan, အပ်ချွန် aphkywan
Forms of awl
| plural | awls |
|---|
Origin of awl
From Middle English aul, alle, al, from Old English æl, from Proto-West Germanic *al, from Proto-Germanic *alaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ólos. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Äil (“awl”), Dutch aal (“awl”), German Low German Ahl (“awl”), German Ahle (“awl”), Icelandic alur (“awl”). Spelling was influenced by the Old English synonym awel, awul (“awl”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahwal, from Proto-Germanic *ahwalaz (“fork, hook”), of unknown origin. Doublet of elsen.
Words formed from awl
Words that rhyme with awl
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- pall
- paul
- recall
- tall
- Donegal
- saul
- forestall
- Saint Paul
- all
- appall
- hauler
- maul
- overcall
- overhaul
- scrawl
- withcall
- befall
- brawl
- drawl
- install
- set out one's stall
- sing small
- bawl
- orle
- spall
- sprawl
- squall
- trawl
- withal
- y'all
- acrawl
- infall
- moneyball
- overall
- pawl
- saule
- Senegal
- shawl
- spawl
- tell all
- yawl
- appal
- asprawl
- at all
- aul
- becrawl
- bescrawl
- besmall
Questions about awl
- What does awl mean?
- Awl means a pointed instrument for piercing small holes, as in leather or wood; used by shoemakers, saddlers, cabinetmakers, etc. The blade is differently shaped and pointed for different uses, as in the brad awl, saddler's awl, shoemaker's awl, etc.
- What is awl in Hindi?
- Awl in Hindi is सूजा (sūjā), आर (ār). See Awl meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is awl?
- Awl can be a noun, an adjective or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce awl?
- Awl is pronounced /ɔːl/ (UK).
- What is the plural of awl?
- The plural of awl is awls.
Words near awl in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: awl (page history and authors); AWL (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-awl.wav.
Cite this entry: “awl.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/awl. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.