Word of the Day rowel

Word of the Day

• rowel
• 
• \ROWL\

• DEFINITION

verb

1

: to goad with or as if with a pointed disk at the end of a spur

2

: vex, trouble

• EXAMPLES

With one of the best fastballs in the league combined with a wicked changeup, Lester roweled the opposing line-up for his second career no-hitter.

"He folded the book shut, touched his hat, moved to the wagon, and roweled the horses around." — From Colum McCann's 2013 novel TransAtlantic

• DID YOU KNOW?

If you've seen Western movies, you've seen rowels. The noun "rowel" names the circular, point-covered disk on the end of a spur that is used to urge powerful steeds to maximum speeds. But cowboys didn't invent rowels; knights in shining armor were sporting them even before the 12th century. English speakers of yore picked up the noun "rowel" from the Anglo-French "roele," meaning "small wheel." By the end of the 1500s, "rowel" was also being used as a verb for any process of prodding or goading that was as irritating as being poked in the side with a rowel.

Read more at http://www.merriam-webster.com/word-of-the-day/#VQtEUgRPEvTM2Wg8.99