See also: Pawl

English

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A ratchet featuring a pawl (2) and ratchet wheel or gear (1) mounted on a base (3)

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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17th c., perhaps from Low German or Dutch pal (catch (mechanism)),[1] or from either French pal (stake) or épaule (shoulder).[2]

Pronunciation

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Noun

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pawl (plural pawls)

  1. 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.
    • 1910, Victor Appleton, Tom Swift and his Motorcycle:
      A pawl is a sort of catch that fits into a ratchet wheel and pushes it around, or it may be used as a catch to prevent the backward motion of a windlass or the wheel on a derrick.
    • 1994, Cormac McCarthy, The Crossing:
      The nails in the rim of the wheel went ratcheting over the leather pawl and the wheel slowed and came to a stop and the woman turned to the crowd and smiled.
  2. A similar device to prevent motion in other mechanisms besides ratchets.

Hypernyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Verb

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pawl (third-person singular simple present pawls, present participle pawling, simple past and past participle pawled)

  1. (transitive) To stop with a pawl.

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ pawl”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
  2. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “pawl”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

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Anagrams

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