Definition of "newel"

newel¹

/ˈnjuː.əl/

noun
plural newels
1. (architecture) A central pillar around which a staircase spirals.
2. (architecture) A sturdy pillar at the top or bottom of a flight of stairs, supporting the handrail.
  Quotations
  We went along the hall to the end and up a flight of stairs with a carved handrail and newel post.
  1943, Raymond Chandler, The High Window, Penguin, published 2005, page 238

newel²

/ˈnjuː.əl/

noun
plural newels
1. (obsolete) A novelty; a new thing.
  Quotations
  He was so enamoured with the newel.
  1882: Edmund Spenser (Alexander Balloch Grosart, ed) The Complete Works in Verse and Prose of Edmund Spenser