awl.
A pointed instrument for piercing small holes, as in leather or wood; used by shoemakers, saddlers, cabinetmakers, etc. The blade is differently shaped and pointed for different uses, as in the brad awl, saddler's awl, shoemaker's awl, etc.
Meaning & usage
A pointed instrument for piercing small holes, as in leather or wood; used by shoemakers, saddlers, cabinetmakers, etc. The blade is differently shaped and pointed for different uses, as in the brad awl, saddler's awl, shoemaker's awl, etc.
Any of various hesperiid butterflies.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English aul, alle, al, from Old English æl, from Proto-West Germanic *al, from Proto-Germanic *alaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ólos. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Äil (“awl”), Dutch aal (“awl”), German Low German Ahl (“awl”), German Ahle (“awl”), Icelandic alur (“awl”). Spelling was influenced by the Old English synonym awel, awul (“awl”), from Proto-West Germanic *ahwal, from Proto-Germanic *ahwalaz (“fork, hook”), of unknown origin. Doublet of elsen.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.