gavel

noun

1. (countable, historical, uncountable)Rent.
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable)Usury; interest on money.
3. (countable, historical, uncountable)An old Saxon and Welsh form of tenure by which an estate passed, on the holder's death, to all the sons equally; also called gavelkind.
4. A wooden mallet, used by a courtroom judge, or by a committee chairman, struck against a sounding block to quieten those present, or by an auctioneer to accept the highest bid at auction.

   “More than three decades later, Ms. Pelosi is all but assured on Thursday of reclaiming her former title as speaker of the House, the first lawmaker in more than half a century to hold the office twice. With the gavel in hand, she will cement her status as the highest-ranking and most powerful elected woman in American political history.”

5. (US, metonymically)The beginning or end of legal proceedings.
6. (US, metonymically)The legal system as a whole.
7. A mason's setting maul.
8. A small heap of grain, not tied up into a bundle.

   “The combination with a mechanical rake of the roof or screen herein described, or the equivalent thereof, to intervene and keep the gavel of grain collected on the platform separated during its discharge”

9. (Scotland, archaic)A gable.

verb

1. (transitive)To divide or distribute according to the gavel system.
2. To use a gavel.
3. To begin or end legal proceedings

   “The judge gavelled for order in the courtroom after the defendant burst out with a confession.”