newel.

A substantial post supporting a stair handrail, especially at its foot or a turn.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• carved newel
• oak newel post
• newel at the foot of the stairs

On the page

A child's mitten hung from the newel at the foot of the stairs.

The carpenter replaced the loose newel but kept the old rail.

She steadied herself on the carved newel before calling upstairs.

Usage notes

Primary category: architecture. More robust than the repeated slender balusters; often called a newel post. Count noun: newels.