A gavel is a small wooden hammer that the person in charge of a law court, an auction, or a meeting bangs on a table to get people's attention
The mallet of the presiding officer in a legislative body, public assembly, court, masonic body, etc
A wooden mallet, used by a judge in a courtroom, or a chairman of a committee, struck against a sounding block to quiet the rabble down
{i} feudal rent (medieval England); pile of corn that has been cut and is ready to be made into sheaves (Archaic)
Sometime they look like a wood mallet, ohters like a pepper mill Usued by presiding officier at a meeting to keep members in line Tables and podiums are not always the most effective surfaces to strike the gavel on, but the are the only ones recommended(see stealing)