pawl

  1. Noun.  A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.
  2. Verb.  (transitive) To stop with a pawl.

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This entry was last updated on RefTopia from its source on 3/20/2012.