gavel
RentRent.
» The judge banged his gavel again.
Meaning
9 senses(countable, historical, uncountable)Rent.
(countable, historical, uncountable)An old Saxon and Welsh form of tenure by which an estate passed, on the holder's death, to all the sons equally; also called gavelkind.
A wooden mallet, used by a courtroom judge, or by a committee chairman, struck against a sounding block to quieten those present, or by an auctioneer to accept the highest bid at auction.
Hammer, Richterhammer, Auktionshammer
деревя́нный молоток m)molotok
(US, metonymically)The beginning or end of legal proceedings.
(US, metonymically)The legal system as a whole.
A mason's setting maul.
A small heap of grain, not tied up into a bundle.
(countable, obsolete, uncountable)Usury; interest on money.
(Scotland, archaic)A gable.
- a small mallet used by a presiding officer or a judge
Examples
8 sentencesThe judge banged his gavel again.
The judge banged his gavel.
The judge pounded the table with his gavel.
The judge closed the session with a strike from her gavel.
Finally, the judge closed the session with a strike from his gavel.
Translations
6 languagesBy meaning 1
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English gavel, from Old English gafol, from Proto-West Germanic *gabul, from PFrom Middle English gavel, from Old English gafol, from Proto-West Germanic *gabul, from Proto-Germanic *gebaną (“to give”), equivalent to give + -el.
Origin obscure. Possibly an alteration of dialectal cavel, a variant of kevel (“a stone mason's axe with a flat face, a cleat or bollard”), from Middle English kevel (“a mason's hammer”), from Old Norse kefli (“a piece of wood, stick, cylinder, mangle”). Cognate with Norwegian kjevle (“rolling pin”).
From Old French gavelle (cf. Modern French javelle) probably diminutive from Latin capulus (“handle”), from capere (“to lay hold of, seize”); or compare Welsh gafael (“hold, grasp”). Compare heave.
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Forms
plural: gavelsWord family
2 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable