▪ I. pawl, n.1
(pɔːl)
Also 7 pawle, 7–9 paul, 8–9 pall.
[Derivation uncertain: perh. = F. pal stake, L. pālus stake, prop, stay; cf. Du. pal; also Welsh pawl pole, stake, bar. But the early history of the word in Eng. is unknown.]
1. Naut. Each of the short stout bars made to engage with the whelps, and prevent a capstan, windlass, or winch from recoiling.
In a capstan the pawls are now usually attached to a part of the barrel called the pawl-head, and engage with the whelps in a pawl-rim attached to the floor or platform on which the capstan works; in a windlass, etc. (formerly also in capstans) the pawl-rim forms part of the barrel, and the pawls are attached to the separate pawl-bitt or -post.
| 1626 Capt. Smith Accid. Yng. Seamen 13 The Capsterne, the pawle, the whelps. 1627 ― Seaman's Gram. ii. 8 The Paul is a short piece of iron made fast to the Deck, resting upon the whelps to keepe the Capstaine from recoiling. 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn. I. s.v., They say, Heave a Pawle! That is, Heave a little more for the Pawle to get hold of the Whelps: And this they call Pawling the Capstan. 1776 Phil. Trans. LX. 88 The palls or stops..of the windlass. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xxiv, By the force of twenty strong arms, the windlass came slowly round, pawl after pawl. 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xi. (1856) 83 ‘All hands’ walking round with the capstan-bars to the click of its iron pauls. 1886 J. M. Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 3 Parts of the Capstan. Drum head,..pauls, paul rim, paul stops, paul beds, whelps. |
2. A bar pivoted at one end to a support, and engaging at the other with the teeth of a ratchet-wheel or ratchet-bar, so as to hold it in a required position; a lever with a catch for the teeth of a wheel or bar.
| 1729 Desaguliers in Phil. Trans. XXXVI. 197 Such a Contrivance, that the Pall or Lever..does so communicate with the Catch, that..the Catch always takes. 1792 Trans. Soc. Arts (ed. 2) III. 159 A pall or stop, which prevents the crane running back. c 1865 Letheby in Circ. Sc. I. 137/1 The latter carries a double paul, which locks into the cogs. 1884 C. G. W. Lock Workshop Receipts Ser. iii. 80/2 A ratchet and pawl keeps the plates in position. |
3. Comb., as pawl-bitt, -post (Naut.), a strong vertical post in which the pawls of a windlass are fixed; pawl-head (Naut.), the part of the capstan to which the pawls are attached: see sense 1; pawl-press, a press used in bookbinding, having ratchet-wheels and pawls (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875); pawl-rim (Naut.), a notched cast-iron ring for the pawls to catch in: see sense 1; pawl-stone, a stone placed at the base of a pillar, wall, or fence, to protect it from damage by wheels.
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Paul bitt..Paul rim. 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 109 Mast and pall bitt beams, and beams under the heel of bowsprit,..must not be less in size than the midship beam. |
| 1897 Kipling Capt. Cour. 80 Under the yellow glare of the lamp on the *pawl-post. |
| c 1860 H. Stuart Seaman's Catech. 54 Parts of a Capstan. The bed, *paul rim,..drum-head, palls and bars. |
| 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 151 A *pawl-stone should be placed on each side of every pillar. |
▪ II. pawl, pál, n.2 East Ind.
Also pāl, pal.
[Hindī pāl.]
A small tent with two poles and steep sloping sides.
| 1811 Kirkpatrick tr. Tippoo's Lett. 49 Where is the great quantity of baggage belonging to you, seeing that you have nothing besides tents, pawls, and other such necessary articles? 1872 E. Braddon Life in India v. 185 Public and private tents, shamianahs, and servants' pāls or canvas wig⁓wams. |
| Comb. 1884 F. Boyle Borderland 403 A pal⁓shaped tent, bellying on its ropes. |
▪ III. pawl, v. Chiefly Naut.
Also pall.
[f. pawl n.1]
1. a. trans. To stop or secure (a capstan, ratchet-wheel, etc.) by means of a pawl or pawls.
| 1704 [see pawl n. 1]. 1706 Phillips, To Pawl the Capstan, to stop it with the Pawl. 1840 R. H. Dana Bef. Mast xv. 41 We manned the windlass..he..ordering us when to heave and when to pawl. 1890 Clark Russell Shipmate Louise III. xli. 286 We could ‘heave and pawl’ no further. |
| fig. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 91 He e'en paul'd Capston, and turn'd a sociable Sot. |
b. intr. for pass.
| 1819 Pantologia s.v. Windlass, If, in heaving the windlass about, any of the handspikes should happen to break, the windlass would pall of itself. |
2. fig. (colloq. or slang.) a. trans. To bring to a standstill, stop, check, ‘bring up short’, ‘pull up’. Also, to detect. b. intr. To stop, cease; esp. to stop talking.
| c 1825 J. Choyce Log Jack Tar (1891) 55 This pawled us. 1859 Hotten Dict. Slang 71 Pall to detect. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Paul there, my hearty. Tell us no more of that. 1975 H. R. F. Keating Remarkable Case viii. 92 She's been palled once..a-trying ter get a look at that door. |
▪ IV. [pawl
in cross-pawl, error for spall, spawl.]