Chairman vs. Gavel — What's the Difference?

The presiding officer of an assembly, meeting, committee, or board.

A gavel is a small ceremonial mallet commonly made of hardwood, typically fashioned with a handle. It can be used to call for attention or to punctuate rulings and proclamations and is a symbol of the authority and right to act officially in the capacity of a presiding officer.

The administrative head of a department of instruction, as at a college.

A small hammer with which an auctioneer, a judge, or the chair of a meeting hits a surface to call for attention or order.

To act as chairman of

Bring (a hearing or person) to order by use of a gavel

A person presiding over a meeting.

One that a judge or presiding officer raps to signal for order.

The head of a corporate or governmental board of directors, a committee, or other formal entity.

One that an auctioneer raps to mark the end of a transaction.

(historical) Someone whose job is to carry people in a portable chair, sedan chair, or similar conveyance.

A maul used by masons in fitting stones.

To serve as chairman.

Tribute or rent in ancient and medieval England.

The presiding officer of a committee, or of a public or private meeting, or of any organized body.

To bring about or compel by using a gavel

One whose business it is to cary a chair or sedan.

(historical) Rent.

The officer who presides at the meetings of an organization;

(obsolete) Usury; interest on money.

Act or preside as chair, as of an academic department in a university;

(historical) 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.

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.

The legal system as a whole.

A mason's setting maul.

A small heap of grain, not tied up into a bundle.

(transitive) To divide or distribute according to the gavel system.

To use a gavel.

A gable.

A small heap of grain, not tied up into a bundle.

The mallet of the presiding officer in a legislative body, public assembly, court, masonic body, etc.

A mason's setting maul.

Tribute; toll; custom. [Obs.] See Gabel.

A small mallet used by a presiding officer or a judge