Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The hood or hooded robe worn especially by a monk.
  • noun A cowl neck.
  • noun A hood-shaped covering used to increase the draft of a chimney.
  • noun The top portion of the front part of an automobile body, supporting the windshield and dashboard.
  • noun The cowling on an aircraft.
  • transitive verb To cover with or as if with a cowl.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An old name in some parts of England for a tub or large vessel for holding liquids; specifically, a large vessel for water, to be carried on a pole between two persons.
  • noun A hood attached to a gown or robe, and admitting of being drawn over the head or of being worn hanging on the shoulders: worn chiefly by monks, and characteristic of their dress or profession.
  • noun A garment with a hood (vestis caputiata), black or gray or brown, varying in length in different ages and according to the usages of different orders, but having these two permanent characteristics, that it covered the head and shoulders, and that it was without sleeves.
  • noun Hence A monk.
  • noun A covering, originally cowl-shaped, for the top of a chimney or the upper end of a soil-pipe or ventilating shaft, made to turn with the wind, and intended to assist ventilation.
  • noun A wire cap or cage on the top of a locomotive-funnel.
  • noun See kowl.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A vessel carried on a pole between two persons, for conveyance of water.
  • noun A monk's hood; -- usually attached to the gown. The name was also applied to the hood and garment together.
  • noun A cowl-shaped cap, commonly turning with the wind, used to improve the draft of a chimney, ventilating shaft, etc.
  • noun A wire cap for the smokestack of a locomotive.
  • noun (aviation) a removable metal covering for an aircraft engine, providing streamlining to minimize wind resistance; -- also called cowling.
  • noun a covering for a chimney or other ventilating shaft functioning to increase the draft.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A monk's hood or hooded robe
  • noun A mask that covers the majority of the head.
  • noun A metal protective covering that covers the engine; also cowling
  • noun A usually hood-shaped covering used to increase the draft of a chimney and prevent backflow.
  • noun nautical A ship's ventilator with a bell-shaped top which can be swivelled to catch the wind and force it below
  • noun nautical A vertical projection of a ship's funnel that directs the smoke away from the bridge
  • noun obsolete, UK A soe

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb cover with or as with a cowl
  • noun a loose hood or hooded robe (as worn by a monk)
  • noun protective covering consisting of a metal part that covers the engine

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English coule, from Old English cugele, from Late Latin cuculla, from Latin cucullus, hood.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Middle English coule, from Old English cule, from cugele, from Late Latin cuculla ("monk's cowl")," from Latin cucullus ("hood").

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Examples

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  • "The man who had tried to help him was wearing one of the monklike butcher's cowls. He stood now like a medieval figure, waiting."

    - 'The Colour Of Blood', Brian Moore.

    January 3, 2008

  • Ginsberg's account of the love that dared not speak its name - that between Batman and Robin

    November 5, 2009