bradawl

noun

bradawl

noun

/ˈbɹædɔːl/

Etymology From brad + awl.

1

An awl with a blade similar to a small, straight screwdriver; used for making holes, especially in wood to take screws.

  • ‘I wish I wos behind him vith a bradawl,’ muttered the long one.1836, Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers 36
  • For the first adjustment [to a door that keeps swinging open], you might need to remove the screws from the frame, move the hinge slightly, and then make new screw holes with a bradawl and reinsert the screws.2016 January 30, Jeff Howell, “Swinging doors: it's not open and shut”, in The Daily Telegraph (Property), page 15:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.