gavel

/ˈɡa.vəl//ˈɡæ.vəl/

noun

  1. 1

    Rent.

  2. 2

    Usury; interest on money.

  3. 3

    An old Saxon and Welsh form of tenure by which an estate passed, on the holder's death, to all the sons equally.

verb

  1. 1

    To divide or distribute according to the gavel system.

noun

  1. 1

    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.

  2. 2

    (metonymically) The legal system as a whole.

  3. 3

    A mason's setting maul.

verb

  1. 1

    To use a gavel.

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

noun

  1. 1

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

noun

  1. 1

    A gable.

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