jowl
/d͡ʒaʊl/noun, verb
jowl is spelled J-O-W-L: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 87,317th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, jowl means “The jaw, jawbone; especially one of the lateral parts of the mandible” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of jowl is jowls.
How many letters and syllables are in jowl?
| Letters | 4: J-O-W-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 9 million words; the 87,317th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is jowl?
Jowl appears about once in every 9 million words in written English, the 87,317th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce jowl?
- /d͡ʒaʊl/
- /d͡ʒəʊl/
Jowl has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-jowl.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of jowl
- jowls plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- jowling participle, present
- jowled participle, past
- chowl
- joul
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does jowl mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The jaw, jawbone; especially one of the lateral parts of the mandible.
- 2
A fold of fatty flesh under the chin, around the cheeks, or lower jaw (as a dewlap, wattle, crop, or double chin).
- 3
The cheek; especially the cheek meat of a hog.
- 4
A cut of fish including the head and adjacent parts
- 5
A blow, bump, knock.
- 6
The tolling of a bell; knell.
verb
- 1
To knock, bump, strike against; hit, strike; peck at.
- 2
To jolt or shake roughly; shake up, mix together.
- 3
To rumble.
- 4
To toll, knell.
- 5
obsoleteTo throw, dash, or knock.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Jowl in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does jowl come from?
From Middle English jawle, chawl, chavel (“jaw, jawbone”), from Old English ċeafl (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-West Germanic *kafl (“jaw, cheek”). The modern form (for expected chavel, chawl; still found dialectally) is influenced by jaw, which it is a partial doublet of.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).