dowel

UK: /ˈdaʊəl/ US: /ˈdaʊəl/ ,(dou′əl)

Inflections of 'dowel' (v): (⇒ conjugate)

When both "l" and "ll" forms exist, spellings with a double "l" are correct, but rare, in US English, while those with a single "l" are not correct in UK English.

dowels

v 3rd person singular

dowelling

v pres p (Mainly UK)

doweling

v pres p (US)

dowelled

v past (Mainly UK)

doweled

v past (US)

dowelled

v past p (Mainly UK)

doweled

v past p (US)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

dow•el /ˈdaʊəl/   n. 

[countable]
1. Building a small rod, usually round and wooden, fitting into holes in two adjacent pieces to line them up.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

dow•el  (dou′əl), n., v., -eled, -el•ing or (esp. Brit.) -elled, -el•ling. 
n. 

1. Building Also called dow′el pin′. [Carpentry.] a pin, usually round, fitting into holes in two adjacent pieces to prevent their slipping or to align them.
2. Building a piece of wood driven into a hole drilled in a masonry wall to receive nails, as for fastening woodwork.
3. Building a round wooden rod of relatively small diameter.
4. Dentistry a peg, usually of metal, set into the root canal of a natural tooth to give additional support to an artificial crown.

v.t. 

5. Building to reinforce or furnish with a dowel or dowels.

• Middle Low German dovel plug; compare German Döbel, Dübel, Old High German tubili
• Middle English dowle 1300–50

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

dowel / ˈdaʊəl/ noun

1. a wooden or metal peg that fits into two corresponding holes to join two adjacent parts
   Also called: dowel pin

Etymology: 14th Century: from Middle Low German dövel plug, from Old High German tubili; related to Greek thuphos wedge