Powell

UK: /ˈpaʊəl/

US: (pou′əl for 1, 4, 5; pō′əl, pou′- for 2, 3)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

Pow•ell  (pou′əl for 1, 4, 5; pō′əl, pou′- for 2, 3), n. 

1. Biographical Adam Clayton, Jr., 1908–72, U.S. clergyman, politician, and civil-rights leader: congressman 1945–67, 1969–71.
2. Biographical Anthony, born 1905, English author.
3. Biographical Cecil Frank, 1903–69, English physicist: Nobel prize 1950.
Co•lin  (kō′lin, kol′in), born 1937, U.S. general.
4. Biographical John Wesley, 1834–1902, U.S. geologist and ethnologist.
5. Biographical Lewis Franklin, Jr., born 1907, U.S. jurist: associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court 1972–87.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

Powell / ˈpaʊəl/ noun

1. / ˈpəʊəl/ Anthony (Dymoke ˈdɪmək ). 1905–2000, British novelist, best known for his sequence of novels under the general title A Dance to the Music of Time (1951–75)
2. Cecil Frank. 1903–69, British physicist, who was awarded the Nobel prize for physics in 1950 for his discovery of the pi-meson
3. Colin (Luther) ( ˈkəʊlɪn ). 1937–2021, US politician and general; Republican secretary of state (2001–05)
4. Earl, known as Bud Powell. 1924–1966, US modern-jazz pianist
5. (John) Enoch. 1912–98, British politician. An outspoken opponent of Commonwealth immigration into Britain and of British membership of the Common Market (now the European Union), in 1974 he resigned from the Conservative Party, returning to Parliament as a United Ulster Unionist Council member (1974–87)
6. Michael. 1905–90, British film writer, producer, and director, best known for his collaboration (1942–57) with Emeric Pressburger. Films include The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), A Matter of Life and Death (1946), The Red Shoes (1948), and Peeping Tom (1960)