gavelock

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English gavelock, from Old English gafeluc (“spear, javelin”), from gafol (“fork”) + -uc (diminutive suffix). Compare Old Norse gaflak, Icelandic gaflok, Old French gavelot, glavelot, French javelot, Irish gabhal (“fork”), Welsh gaflach (“fork, dart”). More at gaff, gaffle and javelin. === Noun === gavelock (plural gavelocks) (rare, obsolete) A spear or dart. (obsolete, Scotland) An iron crowbar. === References === “gavelock”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.