▪ I. rowel, n.
(ˈraʊəl)
Forms: 5 roile; 5 rewel-, 6 ruel; 5 rowelle, 5–8 rowell, 6 rowyll, 6–7 rowal, 5– rowel; 6 rowle, 7 roule.
[ad. OF. roel, rouel masc., or roele, rouele, ruele (etc.) fem., dim. of roe, roue (see row n.6):—L. rota wheel. Cf. med.L. rotella.]
I. 1. a. A small stellar wheel or disk with sharp radial points and capable of rotation, forming the extremity of a spur.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 1258 He Richet his Reynes and his roile stroke. c 1430 Pilgr. Lyf Manhode ii. xcviii. (1869) 111 A peyre spores she hadde on, with longe rewelles wel arayed. 1483 Cath. Angl. 312/2 A Rowelle of a spore, perpetra, stimulus. 1512 Act 4 Hen. VIII, c. 19 §14 Lyke dyverse Rowles of Spurres betwyxte the barres of the Crosse. 1562 Turner Herbal ii. (1568) 43 Lupine hath..a lefe with v. or seuen iaggers, which..haue the lykenes of a ruel of a spor. 1616 Breton Good & Bad xv, When to maintaine valor his spurres haue no rowels nor his sword a point. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 304/1 A Scotch Spur..is an old way of making Spurs, Rowels not then being in fashion. 1784 Cowper Task vi. 527 With sounding whip, and rowels dyed in blood. 1808 Scott Marm. vi. xiv, Lord Marmion turn'd,..And dash'd the rowels in his steed. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 310 The rowel occurs for the first time in a sketch belonging to the latter end of the thirteenth century. 1877 Black Green Past. xiii, The rowels of his spurs were an inch and a half in diameter. |
| fig. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. v. Wks. 1856 I. 62 Your wits spurs have but walking rowels; dull, blunt, they will not drawe blood. |
b. Her. (See quot. 1562.)
| 1562 Legh Armory 185 He beareth Argent a Mollet of v. pointes, Azure. If the pointes be euen they be called Rowelles. 1603 Stow Surv. (1908) I. 52 A Crosse double to the ring, betwene fower rowals of sixe poyntes. [1610 J. Guillim Her. iii. v.] |
c. The rowel-head (see next).
| 1844 Disraeli Coningsby iv. xiv, The yeoman struck his spurs to the rowels. 1863 Thornbury True as Steel I. 155 Up to the rowel went every spur. |
d. attrib. and Comb., as rowel-deep adv., rowel-head, rowel-maker, rowel-spur.
| 1597 Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, i. i. 46 He..strooke his able heeles Against the panting sides of his poore Iade Vp to the Rowell head. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 377 The Rowell maker..makes the 5, 6, 7, 8, or 10 pointed rowells, of iron or steel. 1820 Scott Abbot xviii, I will remain here, with bridle in hand, ready to strike the spurs up to the rowel-heads. 1832 W. C. Bryant Poems 45 His spurs are buried rowel-deep, he rides with loosened rein. 1870 Lowell Study Windows 2 All the couriers in Europe spurring rowel-deep make no stir. 1880 in Mrs. O'Donoghue Ladies on Horseback (1881) 232 A correspondent..advises ladies to use a rowel spur, with five prongs. |
† 2. a. The rim of a wheel. Obs.
| ? a 1400 Morte Arth. 3262 Abowte cho whirllide a whele..; The rowelle whas rede golde with ryalle stonys;..The spekes was splentide alle with speltis of siluer. |
† b. A small wheel or pinion. Obs.
| 1599 T. M[oufet] Silkwormes 35 Ingenious Germane, how didst thou convey Thy Springs, thy Scrues, thy rowells, and thy flie? |
† 3. Eccl. ? A wheel-shaped chandelier. Obs.
Occurs as ruele in Latin context in 1249–52 (Camden Misc. IX. 10); also in Latin form rotella (ibid. 23).
| 1451 in Gardner Hist. Dunwich (1754) 149 For Wax aȝens Estern, and filling the Rowel. 1505 Will of Joan Longe (Somerset Ho.), I bequeth to the makyng of a Rowell in the same church. 1565 in Peacock Eng. Ch. Furniture (1866) 159 Item one Pax, candellstickes, Rowelles, Mass bookes. |
| attrib. 1542 Masham Parish Acc. (MS.), Resauyd and gathryde in the Church for the rowell Candell afore the rood, xx{supd}. |
II. † 4. a. The end of a pig's snout. b. The knee-pan. c. A vertebra. Obs.
| c 1410 Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) v, And whan alle þat faileth hem, þei wrote in þe grounde with þe rowell of hir snowte, þe whiche is reght herde. 1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. 183 b, Of the dislocacion of the panne or rowell of the knee. 1586 Bright Melanch. xxvi. 149 The rowels of the neckbone with their snagges hinder that inclination. |
† 5. a. A small knob on a scourge. Obs.—1
| 1540–1 Elyot Image Gov. xxxix. 98 Whipped throughoute the citie of Rome with whyppes full of ruelles called Scorpions. [Cf. Elyot (1538), Scorpio,..a whyppe hauing plummetts of leade at the endes of the cordes.] |
† b. A knob on a horse's bit. Obs.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. i. vii. 37 The yron rowels into frothy fome he bitt. 1598 Florio, Mellone,..rowels in the mouth of a horses bit like melons. 1607 Markham Caval. ii. (1617) 106 By the cruelty of their bytts, as by hie ports with Trenches, and rough roules or buttons. |
6. Farriery. A circular piece of leather or other suitable material, with a hole in the centre, inserted between the flesh and skin of a horse or other animal to cause discharge of humours; also, any kind of insertion used for this purpose.
Properly distinct from a seton, but the two are sometimes confused.
| 1580 Blundevil Horsemanship v. 51 Two round rowels made of the vpper leather of an old shoo,..and let such rowels be three inches broad. Ibid. 51 b, When he goeth vpright, pull out the rowell. 1607 Markham Caval. vii. (1617) 42 After the sore hath runne eight or tenne dayes, you shall heale it by taking away the rowell. 1610 ― Masterp. ii. clvii. 464 Tye the two ends of the tampins or rowels together. 1714 Phil. Trans. XXIX. 48 Putting..a Rowel or Seton under the Chin, in the Dewlaps. 1761 Earl of Pembroke Mil. Equitation (1778) 127 When horses are out of case,..a rowel, and two ounces of the following powder,..are of great service. 1802 Willich Domest. Encycl. III. s.v., Rowels are eminently useful in carrying off rheums or defluxions from the eyes. 1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 141 A seton or a rowel should be retained for three or four weeks. 1885 G. Fleming Vet. Surg. i. 195 The rowel itself is simply a small piece of thin leather, felt, indiarubber, gutta-percha, or even lead. |
| attrib. 1678 Lond. Gaz. No. 1295/4 A black Gelding,..with a Rowel Mark on the farther Buttock. 1704 Ibid. No. 4068/4 A grey Mare.., Ewe-Neck'd,..and hath six Rowel-Marks. |
† 7. ? A circular drain-cover. Obs.—1
| 1601 Nottingham Rec. IV. 262 To carry away our meanor, to th'end rowells be nott stopped when the[y] sweepe downe ther channels. |
† 8. A round or rung of a ladder. Obs.
| 1652 Sterry Eng. Deliv. North. Presb. 46 A ladder joyning heaven and earth, in which ladder every Rowel is a spiritual, a living glory. 1836 Col. Crockett's Exploits & Adventures Texas i. 1 Though they start at the lowest rowel of the ladder. |
9. ? A radiating group of twigs.
| 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xvii, To fill the tips of the spray-wood and the rowels all up the branches with a crowd of eager blossom. 1894 Hall Caine Manxman ii. vii, The rowels of the thin boughs overhead. |
▪ II. rowel, v.1
(ˈraʊəl)
[f. rowel n. 1.]
1. intr. and with it. To use the spur-rowels.
| 1599 Nashe Lenten Stuffe Wks. (Grosart) V. 249 The dust that they raise in hot spurd rowelling it on to performe complementes vnto him. 1890 Kipling in Fortn. Rev. XLVII. 681 He'll answer to the whip, and you can rowel enough for both. |
2. a. trans. To spur (a horse) with the rowel.
| 1833 Fraser's Mag. VII. 270 Carl..rowelled his horse sharply. 1863 W. C. Baldwin Afr. Hunting vi. 200, I nursed my nag to the best of my judgment, rowelling him well, but holding him fast by the head. 1893 Scribner's Mag. XIII. 378/1 He rowelled the horse with his burnished spurs. |
b. To prick with rowels.
| 1891 Kipling Light that Failed (1900) 271 He was rummaging among his new campaign-kit, and rowelling his hands with the spurs. |
c. fig.
| 1918 F. Hackett Ireland xii. 331 The indecency and indignity of personal subjection rowelled Parnell like a spur with teeth in it. 1931 E. Linklater Juan in Amer. ii. xii. 137 Now the staccato ear-splitting rafale of cheering rowels them afresh. 1967 S. Beckett Stories & Texts for Nothing 42 Between the caressing voice and the fingers rowelling my neck the contrast was striking. 1975 E. Berckman Indecent Exposure viii. 94 Her visit..was strong enough to rowel and disturb her. |
▪ III. rowel, v.2
(ˈraʊəl)
Also 6–7 rowell.
[f. rowel n. 6.]
trans. To insert a rowel in (a horse or other animal).
| 1580 Blundevil Horsemanship v. 51 Rowell the two slittes or cuttes with two round rowels. Ibid. 51 b, It shall be needefull to rowell him with a leather rowell vpon the shoulder point, and to keepe him rowelled the space of fifteene daies. 1657 W. Coles Adam in Eden ccii, The root serveth to rowell Cattle and to cure them of the Cough. 1675 Lond. Gaz. No. 1049/4 Lost.., a small white hound Bitch,..having been roweled in the Breast three dayes since. 1711 Ibid. No. 4917/4, 2 spots on her farther Hip as if she had been Rowell'd. 1771 Smollett Humph. Cl. 24 May, I can dress a horse.., and bleed and rowel him. 1818 Scott Rob Roy vii, I could attain no information beyond what regarded worming dogs, rowelling horses, and following foxes. 1841 Hartshorne Shropsh. Gloss. 552. |