- 1
A dowel is a short round pin, most often wood, that sits in matching holes in two pieces so they line up and hold together. Furniture makers hide them inside chairs, shelves, and frames; you also meet them in some stone and metal work. People use it as a verb too: to dowel two pieces is to join them that way. Though actually, the pin does not have to be wood — metal and plastic dowels exist — but the word still makes most people think of a wooden you do not see from the outside. It is a workshop and DIY word, not a word for general conversation.
木釘；榫釘（暗榫用的圓銷）
組成這個詞本身切不開。中古英語寫成 dowle、dule，來源並不確定。一說是從古法文 doelle（工具上插手柄的中空處）來的，再往上可能是日耳曼語裡「管子」一類的詞；若是這樣，法語 douelle、douille 是親戚。另一說是從中古低地德語 dövel（塞子、銷）來的；若是這樣，荷蘭語 deuvel、德語 Dübel 是親戚。學者還沒有定案。
原始詞典資料5 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，原文照列，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
dowelnoun/ˈdaʊəl/
- 1
A pin, or block, of wood or metal, fitting into holes in the abutting portions of two pieces, and being partly in one piece and partly in the other, to keep them in their proper relative position.
- 2
A wooden rod, as one to make short pins from.
- This twenty-four-piece starter set uses twelve thirty-six-inch-long dowels (or nine forty-eight-inch dowels) cut to these rod lengths. Lay out the cuts so you use the entire length of each dowel without any leftover scraps.
- 3
businessconstructionmanufacturingA piece of wood or similar material fitted into a surface not suitable for fastening so that other pieces may be fastened to it.
dowelverb/ˈdaʊəl/
- 1
To fasten together with dowels.
- The wheels were solid, two half discs dowelled against the hub, and the chariots were pulled along by oxen or asses.
- 2
To furnish with dowels.
- A cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask.
資料來源：英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary（CC BY-SA 4.0）。 原文照列，未經改寫。