dowel
/ˈdaʊəl/
dowel noun: a pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position.
Noun
dowel (plural dowels)
- A pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position.
- A wooden rod, as one to make short pins from.
- This twenty-four-piece starter set uses twelve thirty-six-inch-long dowels (or nine forty-eight-inch dowels) cut to these rod lengths. Lay out the cuts so you use the entire length of each dowel without any leftover scraps.2006, Steven Caney, Lauren House, Steven Caney's Ultimate Building Book, page 264
- A piece of wood or similar material fitted into a surface not suitable for fastening so that other pieces may be fastened to it.
Verb
dowel (third-person singular simple present dowels, present participle (US) doweling or (UK) dowelling, simple past and past participle (US) doweled or (UK) dowelled)
- To fasten together with dowels.
- The wheels were solid, two half discs dowelled against the hub, and the chariots were pulled along by oxen or asses.1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 79
- To furnish with dowels.
- A cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask.
dowel meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Tagalog and Vietnamese
dowel in Tamil
- முளையாணி, இருமுனையாணி, இணைப்பாணி, சுவா முளை, சுவர் முளை, நெம்பு
dowel in Urdu
- گٹی, گچھی, کیل
dowel in Tagalog
- a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- klabiha
dowel in Vietnamese
- something fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
- tắc-kê
Forms of dowel
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | dowels |
| alternative form (obsolete) | doul |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | dowels |
| present participle US | doweling |
| present participle UK | dowelling |
| past participle US | doweled |
| past US | doweled |
| past participle UK | dowelled |
| past UK | dowelled |
Origin of dowel
From Middle English dowle, dule, of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Old French doelle (“the hollow part of a tool where the handle is”), from Frankish *duli (“hollow tube, pipe”), from Proto-Germanic *dulją (“pipe”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰel- (“curvature, hollow”). If so, then cognate with French douelle, douille. Alternatively from Middle Low German dövel (“peg, plug”), from Old Saxon *dubil, from Proto-Germanic *dubilaz. If so, then cognate with Dutch deuvel (“wooden peg”), German Dübel (“dowel”).
Words formed from dowel
- cross dowel
- dowel joint
- dowel pin
Words that rhyme with dowel
Questions about dowel
- What does dowel mean?
- Dowel means a pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position.
- What is dowel in Tamil?
- Dowel in Tamil is முளையாணி, இருமுனையாணி, இணைப்பாணி. See Dowel meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is dowel?
- Dowel can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce dowel?
- Dowel is pronounced /ˈdaʊəl/.
- What is the plural of dowel?
- The plural of dowel is dowels.
Words near dowel in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: dowel (page history and authors); dowel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); dowel (Urdu Wiktionary) (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)-Vealhurl-dowel.wav.
Cite this entry: “dowel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dowel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.