cowls

Noun

cowl (plural cowls)

1. A monk's hood that can be pulled forward to cover the face; a robe with such a hood attached to it.
   • And therfore al our monkes whose professyon was neuer to eate fleshe, set vp the Pope and toke dispensacyons bothe for that faste and also for theyr strayte rules, and made theyr strayte rules as wyde as the hodes of theyr cowles.c. 1536, William Tyndale, An Exposycyon vpon the v. vi. vii. Chapters of Mathewe, An Exposycyon of the syxte Capiter
2. A mask that covers the majority of the head.
3. A thin protective covering over all or part of an engine; also cowling.
   • […] fire was spurting up from the torn engine cowl and glowing in the cockpit.1944, Nevil Shute, chapter 8, in Pastoral, London: Pan Books
4. A usually hood-shaped covering used to increase the draft of a chimney and prevent backflow.
   • In the extreme clearness of the atmosphere the line of every roof, the cowl of every chimney was perceptible […]1928, Virginia Woolf, chapter 4, in Orlando: A Biography, London: The Hogarth Press, →OCLC; republished as Orlando: A Biography (eBook no. 0200331h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg Australia, July...
5. A ship's ventilator with a bell-shaped top which can be swivelled to catch the wind and force it below.
   • He flung himself at the port ventilator as though he meant to tear it out bodily and toss it overboard. All he did was to move the cowl round a few inches, with an enormous expenditure of force, and seemed spent in the effort.1902 January–March, Joseph Conrad, “Typhoon”, in George R. Halkett, editor, The Pall Mall Magazine, volume XXVI, London: Printed by Hazell, Watson & Viney, →OCLC, chapter II, page 101
6. A vertical projection of a ship's funnel that directs the smoke away from the bridge.

See all 14 meanings of cowl