Dear WW: I wonder if 'dowel' is related:
dowel

SYLLABICATION: dow·el
PRONUNCIATION: doul
NOUN: 1. A usually round pin that fits tightly into a corresponding hole to fasten or align two adjacent pieces. 2. A piece of wood driven into a wall to act as an anchor for nails.
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: dow·eled, dow·el·ing, dow·els also dow·elled, dow·el·ling, dow·els
1. To fasten or align with dowels: table legs that are doweled to the top. 2. To equip with dowels.
ETYMOLOGY: Middle English doule, part of a wheel, perhaps from Middle Low German dovel, plug, or from Old French doele, barrel stave (diminutive of douve, from Late Latin doga, vessel, from Greek dokh, recepticle, from dekhesthai, to take; see dek- in Appendix I).