pawl
/pɔːl/ noun, verb
Also a form of Paul
Forms pawls pawling pawled pall
- noun A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.
- noun A similar device to prevent motion in other mechanisms besides ratchets.
- verb (transitive) To stop with a pawl.
Synonyms
Etymology
17th c., perhaps from Low German or Dutch pal (“catch (mechanism)”), or from either French pal (“stake”) or épaule (“shoulder”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A pivoted tongue, or sliding bolt, on one part of a machine, adapted to fall into notches, or interdental spaces, on another part, as a ratchet wheel, in such a manner as to permit motion in one direction and prevent it in the reverse, as in a windlass; a catch, click, or detent. See Illust. of Ratchet Wheel. [Written also paul, or pall.] Pawl bitt (Naut.), a heavy timber, set abaft the windlass, to receive the strain of the pawls.
- verb To stop with a pawl; to drop the pawls off. To pawl the capstan. See under Capstan.
Etymology [W. pawl a pole, a stake. Cf. Pole a stake.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pawl”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details