dowel

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noun dow·el \ ˈdau̇(-ə)l \

Definition of dowel

1 :a pin fitting into a hole in an abutting piece to prevent motion or slipping; also :a round rod or stick used especially for cutting up into dowels

2 :a piece of wood driven into a wall so that other pieces can be nailed to it

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Recent Examples of dowel from the Web

There are too many dowels, and some of them won’t fit into any of the holes.

— pat fitzmaurice, SI.com, "Carolina Panthers Fantasy Football 2017 Preview: Greg Olson Is Gold," 2 Aug. 2017
Rope is looped around metal dowels called belaying pins that sit in a horizontal steel bar called a pin rail.

— john kelly, Washington Post, "Like sand through an hourglass, National Theatre’s sandbags are slipping away," 26 June 2017
A herd of wildebeests was fashioned from dowels and cardboard wildebeest heads.

— denise coffey, Courant Community, "Little Theater On Broad Street Sells Out "Lion King Jr."," 15 June 2017
Three times a day on weekdays, and twice as often on weekends, gallery attendants will push a button and let some of the wires and dowels boogie.

— jason farago, New York Times, "When It Comes to Calder, the Same Piece Is Always Different," 8 June 2017
Stick the wooden dowel rod through the ball and attach the Styrofoam cone to the rod.

— stephanie shore fisher, Good Housekeeping, "5 So-Clever and So-Crafty Ways to Give Cash Gifts," 2 June 2017
On this outing, the softer sounds made by Hennessy’s slate call — a wooden dowel scraped against a stone plate — proved more successful.

— dave orrick, Twin Cities, "Wild turkey hunting: 5 reasons why having a partner is awesome," 28 Apr. 2017
The items banned are: Metal pipes Baseball or softball bats Lengths of lumber or wood of any size Wooden dowelsPoles Bricks Rocks Glass bottles Pepper spray (OC spray)

— tom lochner, The Mercury News, "Sticks, poles among objects banned at Berkeley protests Saturday," 14 Apr. 2017
Plastic Easter eggs Gold leaf marker Hot glue gun (and wooden dowel if necessary) Hexagon tile Potting soil Succulents Remove the top half of a plastic Easter egg and discard or save for another project.

— country living staff, Country Living, "These Mini Succulent Planters Are Actually Made From Plastic Easter Eggs," 31 Mar. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dowel.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.