: a mallet used (as by a presiding officer or auctioneer) for commanding attention or confirming an action (such as a vote or sale)
gaveled or gavelled; gaveling or gavelling
ˈga-v(ə-)liŋ 
: to bring or force by use of a gavel
gaveled the audience to silence
Examples of gavel in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Kyler Alvord, Peoplemag, 9 May 2024
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday easily batted down an attempt by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to oust him from his post, after Democrats linked arms with most Republicans to fend off a second attempt by G.O.P. hard-liners to strip the gavel from their party leader.
—Kayla Guo, New York Times, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for gavel 
Noun
Around the nation, with the #MeToo movement still fresh on voters' minds, Democrats picked up a total of 41 House seats — largely attributed to a score of passionate female candidates determined to narrow the representation gap and return the speaker's gavel to Nancy Pelosi.
—Kyler Alvord, Peoplemag, 9 May 2024
Speaker Mike Johnson on Wednesday easily batted down an attempt by Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia to oust him from his post, after Democrats linked arms with most Republicans to fend off a second attempt by G.O.P. hard-liners to strip the gavel from their party leader.
—Kayla Guo, New York Times, 8 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for gavel
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'gavel.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Gavel.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gavel. Accessed 28 May. 2024.
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