Dorbel -- the masses have spoken

[MYShaner at aol.com]

And the winner is Linda by a point!  Take it away....

- MyS

dorbel (n) A spacer, larger than a shim, used in mechanical applications
JDMS, 4 POINTS
1 – Dave T
2 – Joe
1 – Pierre

dorbel (n) (U.S. Appalachia)  A homely or unadorned object
AUSSIE, 4 POINTS
2 – Judith
1 – Eric
1 – Linda: Poor thing.

dorbel (n) Small bulblet that grows beside the larger main bulb, as in gladioli 
LINDA, 6 POINTS
1 – Judith 
1 – Aussie: although I didn't realize gladiolysisses had bulblets
2 – Amy
2 – Pierre

as opposed to a large bulblet?  -- Dave T

dorbel (n) (fr. Gaelic _dara bheaille_)  A page of the Bible written on vellum. Gaelic Irish warriors would wear dorbels to battle to keep them safe from harm
DAVID R., 2 POINTS
2 – JDMS

That would be borrowed as "dorvel".  – Pierre
Wish I knew Gaelic. Anyway, where can I get me one of these? I may go into battle sometime. –  Linda

dorbel (n) A dull-witted pedant, a foolish pretender to learning; from Nicholas Dorbellus, a 15th-century professor of philosophy and follower of Duns Scotus, whose name gives dunce
JOSEPH SHIPLEY’S DICTIONARY OF EARLY ENGLISH, 1955, 2 POINTS

2 – Jacob: I believe that the part about Duns Scotus is correct, which means that this is either the correct answer or was invented by someone extremely clever.   [Or was chosen by someone extremely clever – Ed.]

Ouch! - that etymology is wildly bogus! – Dave T
this had two points up to the last phrase... – David R
Typically pedantic and wordy. I may use this def a lot. – Linda

dorbel (n) Measurement unit for lumber, equal to 720 linear feet
JACOB, 0 POINTS, PLUS 2 FOR GUESSING THE RIGHT ANSWER

That's a lot of wood. Much more than my 2 cubic inches of last round.  – Joe
Sounds like a cord only lengthwise. Wrap me up a dorbel of 12 foot long 2 by 4's – Linda

dorbel (n) A small fish of European rivers which lays its eggs in the gills of mussels
PIERRE, 4 POINTS
2 – Eric
1 – David R
1 – Linda: When you want to enter the mussel's gill, you ring a dorbel. 

dorbel (n) A serrated edge used to cut a section from a roll of material, e.g. of tape or food wrap
JIMMOSK, 4 POINTS
1 – Fran
1 – Joe: And here I thought that was just called a serrated edge. One point for the "there should be a word for this" award.
1 – Jean-Joseph
1 – Amy

dorbel (n) In rolley-hole marbles tournaments, a two-point bonus score awarded when a player passes more than three holes on one turn
FRAN, 4 POINTS
2 – Dave T
2 – Aussie:  Now, that's what I'd call a dorbel! 

I plead total ignorance of this and many other sports. – Pierre
I hate tournaments made from kids' pastimes.  – Linda
I think that someone here is assuming that people don't know enough about marbles to be able to tell that this is a fake def. Well, they're right. I don't know anything about marbles, which makes me very wary of actually voting for this. – Joe

dorbel (n) Jewelry made from pickled bone
JEAN-JOSEPH, 0 POINTS

Can you pickle bone? – Joe

dorbel (n) A unit of measure to record displacement of water during underwater seismic activity
NORA, 2 POINTS
2 – Jean-Joseph

This doesn't make sense; what is the unit equal to? Or did you mean a device to measure and record? – Pierre
Nicely understated. Sounds vaguely familiar. Almost blinded me with science.  -- Linda

dorbel (n)  Any airway sound made by a sleeping person, not identifiable as speech, snoring, or respiratory distress
ERIC, 1 POINT
1 – JDMS

dorbel (n)  A metal or plastic rod placed in a window frame to prevent the window from being fully opened
JOE, 5 POINTS
2 – David R
2 – Fran
1 – Jacob

The material gives it away - A wooden dorbel would probably be most typical, and unless it were important, it probably wouldn't be in there... – Dave T
The dorbel in my back door is metal, but the one we used to have several houses ago is wood. – Pierre
I coulda used one of these when there was a stalker roaming my neighborhood when I was a teenager. My dad "locked" my windows with a hammered screwdriver (there were no real locks), so the stalker couldn't get in. Luckily it was cool weather. – Linda