Part 503

Thackeray.

Dow"cet (?), n. [See Doucet.] One of the testicles of a hart or stag. [Spelt also doucet.] B. Jonson.

Dow"dy (?), a. [Compar. Dowdier (?); superl. Dowdiest.] [Scot. dawdie slovenly, daw, da sluggard, drab, Prov. E. dowd flat, dead.] Showing a vulgar taste in dress; awkward and slovenly in dress; vulgar-looking. -- Dow"di*ly (#), adv. -- Dow"di*ness, n.

Dow"dy, n.; pl. Dowdies (&?;). An awkward, vulgarly dressed, inelegant woman. Shak. Dryden.

Dow"dy*ish, a. Like a dowdy.

Dow"el (?), n. [Cf. G. döbel peg, F. douelle state of a cask, surface of an arch, douille socket, little pipe, cartridge.] (Mech.) 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 piece of wood driven into a wall, so that other pieces may be nailed to it.

Dowel joint, a joint secured by a dowel or dowels. -- Dowel pin, a dowel. See Dowel, n., 1.

Dow"el, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Doweled (?) or Dowelled; p. pr. & vb. n. Doweling or Dowelling.] To fasten together by dowels; to furnish with dowels; as, a cooper dowels pieces for the head of a cask.

Dow"er (?), n. [F. douaire, LL. dotarium, from L. dotare to endow, portion, fr. dos dower; akin to Gr. &?; gift, and to L. dare to give. See 1st Date, and cf. Dot dowry, Dotation.] 1. That with which one is gifted or endowed; endowment; gift.

How great, how plentiful, how rich a dower!

Sir J. Davies.

Man in his primeval dower arrayed.

Wordsworth.

2. The property with which a woman is endowed; especially: (a) That which a woman brings to a husband in marriage; dowry. [Obs.]

His wife brought in dower Cilicia's crown.

Dryden.

(b) (Law) That portion of the real estate of a man which his widow enjoys during her life, or to which a woman is entitled after the death of her husband. Blackstone.

Dower, in modern use, is and should be distinguished from dowry. The former is a provision for a widow on her husband's death; the latter is a bride's portion on her marriage. Abbott.

Assignment of dower. See under Assignment.

Dow"ered (?), p. a. Furnished with, or as with, dower or a marriage portion. Shak.

Dow"er*less, a. Destitute of dower; having no marriage portion. Shak.

Dow"er*y (?), n. See Dower.

Dow"itch*er (?), n. (Zoöl.) The red-breasted or gray snipe (Macrorhamphus griseus); - - called also brownback, and grayback.

Dowl (doul), n. Same as Dowle.

Dow"las (?), n. [Prob. fr. Doullens, a town of Picardy, in France, formerly celebrated for this manufacture.] A coarse linen cloth made in the north of England and in Scotland, now nearly replaced by calico. Shak.

Dowle (doul), n. [Cf. OF. douille soft. Cf. Ductile.] Feathery or wool-like down; filament of a feather. Shak.

No feather, or dowle of a feather.