† ˈgaffle Obs.
Also 5 gaffolle, 6–7 gaffel(l, 7 gafel, 8 gafle.
[prob. a. Du. gaffel = OE. ᵹeafol, Ger. gabel fork: see gable.]
1. A steel lever for bending the cross-bow.
| 1497 Naval Acc. Hen. VII (1896) 110 Bowes v, Arowes v..Shot of ston for demy curtowes..clij, Gaffolles of iren..ij. 1598 Florio, Martinello, a gaffell, a racke or bender of a bow. 1630 Drayton Muses' Elys. vi, My cross-bow in my hand, my gaffle on my rack To bend it when I please. 1672 Compl. Gunner iii. xv. 12 Certain strong Cross-bows to bend with Racks or Gaffels. 1706 in Phillips (ed. Kersey). 1721–92 in Bailey. And in mod. Dicts. |
2. A rest for a musket: = fork 6 b, forcat.
In Cent. Dict. The Du. word had this sense among others, but Eng. examples are wanting.
3. A steel spur for fighting cocks. (Cf. gaff n.1 3 a and gablock 1.)
| 1755 in Bailey (ed. Scott). 1776 Brand Pop. Antiq. (1777) 379 note, The Gafle is a mere modern Invention. |
Hence ˈgaffled ppl. a., armed with ‘gaffles’ or spurs.
| 1790 J. Williams Shrove Tuesday (1794) 8 We [cocks] assume the spatterdash and spur Gaffled and clad in brightly burnish'd steel. |