chavel

Etymology

From Middle English chavel, from Old English ċeafl (“a bill, beak, snout, jaw, jaw-bone, cheek, cheek-bone”), from Proto-Germanic *kaflaz, *keflaz, *kefraz (“jaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵēbh-, *gēbh- (“jaw, gills”). Cognate with Middle Low German kavel (“jaw, gums, palate”), Dutch kevels (“jawbones, toothless jaws”), Middle High German kivel, kivele, kiuwel (“jaw”). More at jowl.

Noun

chavel (plural chavels)

1. (obsolete) The jaw, especially of an animal.

Verb

chavel (third-person singular simple present chavels, present participle chavelling, simple past and past participle chavelled)

1. (transitive, Britain, dialectal) To chew.
   • D. H. Lawrence

     The bracken lay sere under the trees, broken and chavelled by the restless wild winds of the long winter.

Anagrams

• cheval

Alternative forms

• tgavel
• chavè
• cavegl

Etymology

From Latin capillus.

Noun

chavel m (plural chavels)

1. (single strand of) hair