Definition of "dowel"

dowel

/ˈdaʊəl/

noun
plural dowels
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.
  Quotations
  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.
  2006, Steven Caney, Lauren House, Steven Caney's Ultimate Building Book, page 264
3. (construction) A piece of wood or similar material fitted into a surface not suitable for fastening so that other pieces may be fastened to it.
verb
third-person singular simple present dowels, present participle dowelling or doweling, simple past and past participle dowelled or doweled
1. (transitive) To fasten together with dowels.
2. (transitive) To furnish with dowels.