rowel

[ rou-uhl ]

noun

1. a small wheel with radiating points, forming the extremity of a spur.
2. Veterinary Medicine. a piece of leather or the like inserted beneath the skin of a horse or other animal to promote drainage of an infection.

verb (used with object)

, row·eled, row·el·ing or (especially British) row·elled, row·el·ling.

1. to prick or urge with a rowel.
2. Veterinary Medicine. to insert a rowel in.

rowel

/ ˈraʊəl /

noun

1. a small spiked wheel attached to a spur
2. obsolete.
   vet science a piece of leather or other material inserted under the skin of a horse to act as a seton and allow drainage

verb

1. to goad (a horse) using a rowel
2. obsolete.
   vet science to insert a rowel in (the skin of a horse) to allow drainage

Other Words From

• un·roweled especially British un·rowelled adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rowel¹

1350–1400; Middle English rowelle < Middle French ruelle, Old French roel < Late Latin rotella, equivalent to Latin rot ( a ) wheel + -ella -elle

Word History and Origins

Origin of rowel¹

C14: from Old French roel a little wheel, from roe a wheel, from Latin rota

Example Sentences

The draft language includes an outright ban on “electric prods or shocking devices, flank or bucking straps, wire tie-downs, sharpened or fixed spurs or rowels, and lariats or lassos.”

From Washington Times

Beneath this magnificent hat lay a pair of silver spurs with huge gold-plated, star-shaped rowels.

From Literature

Johnny took off his spurs and showed the silversmith a broken rowel.

From Literature

Lee, 6 feet tall with a full head of gray hair, wore a new uniform and a sword with a jeweled hilt, boots with red silk stitching and spurs with rowels.

From Reuters

But he sprang to the right, when the rowel went into his flank, carrying with it the assurance that the game was up.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• coerce
• harass
• hound
• prod
• provoke
• tease