rowel

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   the small wheel with projecting points at the end of a rider's spur

   The gaucho's silver spur had a rowel as wide as his palm.

2. 2
   verb

   to urge or wound a horse with a rowel, or figuratively to provoke someone into action

   The rider did not need to rowel the well-trained horse.

From Middle English rowel and Anglo-French roele or rouelle, 'small wheel,' a diminutive of roue, 'wheel,' ultimately from Latin rota. The name refers to the rotating wheel at the end of a spur.

Topics