I. ˈrau̇(ə)l noun
( -s )
Etymology: Middle English rowelle, ruel, from Middle French rouelle small wheel, from Old French roele — more at roulette
1.
a. : a revolving disk at the end of a spur with a varying number of sharp points for goading a horse
the size of the rowel and the number of spokes determine the extent of spur cruelty — N.W.McKelvey
b. obsolete : a small knob on a horse's bit
the iron rowels into frothy foam he bit — Edmund Spenser
2. : something that resembles the rowel of a spur ; specifically : a spiked wheel on a soil pulverizer
3. : a roll (as of hair or silk) passed through the flesh of an animal to induce localized drainage of widespread infection — compare seton
II. transitive verb
( roweled or rowelled ; roweled or rowelled ; roweling or rowelling ; rowels )
1.
a. : to goad with a rowel : spur
rowels his horse to a fresh burst of speed
b.
(1) : to rake as if with a rowel : dig into : rend
bathers rowelling the sand with horny heels — Louis Kent
(2) : to disturb or incite to action : trouble , prick
blurted out the question that was roweling each one's mind — Joseph Bryan & P.G.Reed
c. : to furnish with a rowel
a roweled spur
2. : to insert a rowel of hair or silk into an animal