gavels

Noun (1)

gavel (countable and uncountable, plural gavels)

1. (historical) Rent.
2. (obsolete) Usury; interest on money.
3. (historical) An old Saxon and Welsh form of tenure by which an estate passed, on the holder's death, to all the sons equally; also called gavelkind.

Noun (2)

gavel (plural gavels)

1. A wooden mallet, used by a courtroom judge, or by a committee chairman, struck against a sounding block to quieten those present, or by an auctioneer to accept the highest bid at auction.
   • More than three decades later, Ms. Pelosi is all but assured on Thursday of reclaiming her former title as speaker of the House, the first lawmaker in more than half a century to hold the office twice. With the gavel in hand, she will cement her status as the highest-ranking and most powerful...2019 January 2, Sheryl Gay Stolberg, “Nancy Pelosi, Icon of Female Power, Will Reclaim Role as Speaker and Seal a Place in History”, in New York Times
2. (US, metonymically) The beginning or end of legal proceedings.
3. (US, metonymically) The legal system as a whole.

See all 12 meanings of gavel