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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

jowl.

The jaw, jawbone; especially one of the lateral parts of the mandible.

4 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/d͡ʒaʊl//d͡ʒəʊl/
  1. The jaw, jawbone; especially one of the lateral parts of the mandible.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English jawle, chawl, chavel (“jaw, jawbone”), from Old English ċeafl (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-West Germanic *kafl (“jaw, cheek”). The modern form (for expected chavel, chawl; still found dialectally) is influenced by jaw, which it is a partial doublet of.

verb/d͡ʒaʊl//d͡ʒəʊl/
  1. To throw, dash, or knock.

    obsolete · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English jawle, chawl, chavel (“jaw, jawbone”), from Old English ċeafl (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-West Germanic *kafl (“jaw, cheek”). The modern form (for expected chavel, chawl; still found dialectally) is influenced by jaw, which it is a partial doublet of.

noun/d͡ʒaʊl//d͡ʒəʊl/
  1. A fold of fatty flesh under the chin, around the cheeks, or lower jaw (as a dewlap, wattle, crop, or double chin).

  2. The cheek; especially the cheek meat of a hog.

  3. A cut of fish including the head and adjacent parts

Where this word comes from

From Middle English cholle (“wattle, jowl”), from Old English ċeole (“throat”), from Proto-West Germanic *kelā, from Proto-Germanic *kelǭ (“gullet”) (compare Scots choll, West Frisian kiel, Dutch keel, German Kehle), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷelu- (“to swallow”) (compare Old Irish in·gilid (“to graze”), Irish goile (“stomach”), Latin gula (“throat”), gluttiō (“to swallow”), Russian глота́ть (glotátʹ, “to swallow, gulp”), Ancient Greek δέλεαρ (délear, “lure”), Armenian կլանել (klanel, “to swallow”), Persian گلو (galu), Hindi गला (galā, “neck, throat”)).

verb/d͡ʒaʊl//d͡ʒəʊl/
  1. To knock, bump, strike against; hit, strike; peck at.

    dialectal · transitive
  2. To jolt or shake roughly; shake up, mix together.

    dialectal · transitive
  3. To rumble.

    dialectal · transitive
  4. To toll, knell.

    dialectal · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English jollen, chollen (“to knock, strike, batter; stagger”). Related to jow (“to knock, bump, ring”).

noun/d͡ʒaʊl//d͡ʒəʊl/
  1. A blow, bump, knock.

    dialectal
  2. The tolling of a bell; knell.

    dialectal
Where this word comes from

From Middle English jollen, chollen (“to knock, strike, batter; stagger”). Related to jow (“to knock, bump, ring”).

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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.