gavel

gav·el

gavel

a small mallet rapped on the table by a presiding officer in calling for attention or silence, or by an auctioneer

Origin of gavel

uncertain or unknown; perhaps dialect, dialectal variant, variety of Scottish gable, a fork, tool with forked handle from Middle English from Old English gafol, akin to German gabel

transitive verb

-·eled or -·elled, -·el·ing or -·el·ling

to strike with or as with a gavel
to cause (a meeting) to end, be in order, etc. by striking a gavel

to strike a gavel

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MLA Style

"gavel." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 25 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/GAVEL>.

APA Style

gavel. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/GAVEL

gavel

noun

A small mallet, especially:
a. One that a judge or presiding officer raps to signal for order.
b. One that an auctioneer raps to mark the end of a transaction.
A maul used by masons in fitting stones.

transitive verb

gav·eled, gav·el·ing, gav·els, also gav·elled gav·el·ling

To bring about or compel by using a gavel: “The chairman … tries to gavel the demonstration to an end” ( New Yorker )

Origin of gavel

Origin unknown

gavel1

noun

Tribute or rent in ancient and medieval England.

Origin of gavel

Middle English from Old English gafol ; see ghabh- in Indo-European roots.

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"gavel." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 25 April 2019. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/GAVEL>.

APA Style

gavel. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25th, 2019, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/GAVEL

Noun

(plural gavels)

(historical) Rent.

Origin

Old English gafol.

Noun

(plural gavels)

A wooden mallet, used by a judge in a courtroom, or a chairman of a committee, struck against a sounding block to quiet the rabble down.
(figuratively) The legal system as a whole.
A mason's setting maul.

Verb

(third-person singular simple present gavels, present participle gaveling or gavelling, simple past and past participle gaveled or gavelled)

To use a gavel.
The judge gavelled for order in the courtroom after the defendant burst out with a confession.

Usage notes

In US English, the participles are gaveled and gaveling, in British English they are gavelled and gavelling.

Origin

Origin obscure. Perhaps alteration of cavel (“a stone mason's hammer”). More at cavel.

Noun

(plural gavels)

A small heap of grain, not tied up into a bundle.

Origin

Old French gavelle, French javelle, probably diminutive from Latin capulus (“handle”), from capere (“to lay hold of, seize”); or compare Welsh gafael (“hold, grasp”). Compare heave.

Noun

(plural gavels)