noun. A sheaf of corn before it is tied up; a small heap of unbound wheat or other grain.

noun. A small mallet used by the presiding officer of a legislative body or public assembly to attract attention and signal for order.

To bind into sheaves.

noun. In old English law, rent; tribute; toll; custom; more specifically, rent payable otherwise than in feudal military service.

noun. The tenure by which, according to either the ancient Saxon or Welsh custom, land on the death of the tenant did not go to the eldest son, but was partitioned in equal shares among all the sons, or among several members of the family in equal degree, or by which, according to the Irish custom, the death of a holder involved a general redistribution of the tribal lands. Compare gavelkind.

noun. A partition made pursuant to such custom.

To partition and distribute (or redistribute) equally (the lands of one deceased) according to the practice of gavelkind. See gavel , n., and gavelkind.

noun. A dialectal form of gable.

noun. The mallet of the presiding officer in a legislative body, public assembly, court, masonic body, etc.

noun. A mason's setting maul.

noun. A gable.

noun. Tribute; toll; custom. [Obs.] See gabel.

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

noun. Rent.

noun. Usury; interest on money.

noun. 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.

noun. The legal system as a whole.

verb. To use a gavel.

noun. a small mallet used by a presiding officer or a judge

"Also — and this undercuts the Feingold point, I suppose — Elana Schor reports for TPM that Pat Roberts, one of the worst Senators ever to hold the intelligence-committee gavel, is also backing Panetta."

beetle  mallet  

Havel  Pavel  Ravel  gravel  ravel  

Parton  credenza  

gable  toll  tribute  

gabel  

gavelled  gavelling  gavels