Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Pawl
Pawl
,Noun.
[W.
pawl
a pole, a stake. Cf. Pole
a stake.] (Mach.)
A pivoted tongue, or sliding bolt, on one part of a machine, adapted to fall into notches, or interdental spaces, on another part, as a ratchet wheel, in such a manner as to permit motion in one direction and prevent it in the reverse, as in a windlass; a catch, click, or detent. See Illust. of
Ratchet Wheel
. [Written also
paul
, or pall
.] Pawl bitt
(Naut.)
, a heavy timber, set abaft the windlass, to receive the strain of the pawls.
– Pawl rim
or
Pawl ring
(Naut.)
, a stationary metallic ring surrounding the base of a capstan, having notches for the pawls to catch in.
Webster 1828 Edition
Pawl
PAWL
,Noun.
Definition 2025
pawl
pawl
English
A ratchet featuring a pawl (2) and gear (1) mounted on a base (3)
Noun
pawl (plural pawls)
- 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.
- 1910, Victor Appleton, Tom Swift and his Motorcycle
Derived terms
- pawl bitt
- pawl rim
Translations
pawl
Verb
pawl (third-person singular simple present pawls, present participle pawling, simple past and past participle pawled)
- (transitive) To stop with a pawl.
Derived terms
- pawl the capstan