newel
Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /ˈnjuː.əl/
  • (America) IPA: /ˈnu.əl/, /ˈnju.əl/
Noun

newel (plural newels)

  1. (architecture) A central pillar around which a staircase spirals.
  2. (architecture) A sturdy pillar at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, supporting the handrail.
    • 1943, Raymond Chandler, The High Window, Penguin 2005, p. 238:
      We went along the hall to the end and up a flight of stairs with a carved handrail and newel post.
Synonyms
  • (central pillar of a staircase spiral) spindle
Translations Noun

newel (plural newels)

  1. (obsolete) A novelty; a new thing.
    • 1882: Edmund Spenser (Alexander Balloch Grosart, ed) The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Edmund Spenser
      He was so enamoured with the newel.



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