Meanings
noundowel (plural dowels)
plural dowels · alternative obsolete doul
- 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 - businessA piece of wood or similar material fitted into a surface not suitable for fastening so that other pieces may be fastened to it.
verbdowel (third-person singular simple present dowels, present participle (US) doweling or (UK) dowelling, simple past and past participle (US) doweled or (UK) dowelled)
present singular third person dowels · US participle present doweling · UK participle present dowelling · US participle past doweled · US past doweled · UK participle past dowelled · UK past dowelled · alternative obsolete doul
- transitiveTo 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 - transitiveTo furnish with dowels.
A cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna fastener that is inserted into holes in two adjacent pieces and holds them together
Similar
dowel pinjoggle
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*dubilaz
- Old Saxon*dubil
- Middle Low Germandövel“peg, plug”
- Proto-Indo-European*dʰel-“curvature, hollow”
- Proto-Germanic*dulją“pipe”
- Frankish*duli“hollow tube, pipe”
- Old Frenchdoelle“the hollow part of a tool where the handle is”
- Middle Englishdowle
- Englishdowel
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”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Frankish
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian шпилка, щифт
- шпилка (špilka)a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- щифт (štift)a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- клин (klin)piece of wood fitted into a surface
- дюбел (djubel)something fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
Catalan clavilla
- clavillaa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Chinese Mandarin 銷釘 /销钉, 木钉
- 銷釘 /销钉 (xiāodìng)a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- 木钉 (mù-dīng)piece of wood fitted into a surface
- 膨脹螺絲 /膨胀螺丝something fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
- 麻根塞something fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
- 膠塞 /胶塞 (jiāosài)something fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
Dutch deuvel, plug
- deuvela pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- plugpiece of wood fitted into a surface
Estonian tüübel, punn
- tüübela pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- punna pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Finnish tappi, seinätulppa
- tappia pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- seinätulppaa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- tulppaa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
French cheville, goujon
- chevillea pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- goujona pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- chevillepiece of wood fitted into a surface
German Dübel, Holzdübel
- Dübela pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- Holzdübela pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- Federa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- Verbindera pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- Dübelpiece of wood fitted into a surface
- Federpiece of wood fitted into a surface
- Holzdübelpiece of wood fitted into a surface
- Dübelsomething fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
- Wanddübelsomething fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
- Kunststoffdübelsomething fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
- Metalldübelsomething fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
Hungarian pecek
- peceka pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Italian tassello, piolo
- tasselloa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- pioloa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Japanese ダボ
- ダボ (dabo)a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Norwegian dimling, dimling
- dimlinga pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- dimlingpiece of wood fitted into a surface
Portuguese cavilha, bucha
- cavilhaa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- buchasomething fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
Russian шпо́нка, штифт
- шпо́нка (špónka)a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- штифт (štift)a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- на́гель (nágelʹ)a pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- дю́бель (djúbelʹ)something fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
Spanish clavija, taco
- clavijaa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- tacoa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- espigaa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- tarugoa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- torilloa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- clavija lignariapiece of wood fitted into a surface
- torillo lignariopiece of wood fitted into a surface
- espigapiece of wood fitted into a surface
- almillapiece of wood fitted into a surface
- tarugopiece of wood fitted into a surface
- bitoquepiece of wood fitted into a surface
- tarugosomething fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
Swedish dymling
- dymlinga pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Tagalog klabiha
- klabihaa pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Turkish dübel, pim
- dübela pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- pima pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
Vietnamese tắc-kê
- tắc-kêsomething fitted into a surface to let other pieces be fastened to it
Welsh hoelbren, hoelbren
- hoelbrena pin fitting into holes, partly in one piece and partly in the other to keep them in their position
- hoelbrenpiece of wood fitted into a surface
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with dowel
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
dowel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dowel
MLA
“dowel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dowel. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dowel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dowel.
Source: dowel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.