Jowling

Jowling is a rarely used term with several distinct senses linked to the word jowl, the lower jaw and surrounding flesh. In anatomical or cosmetic discussions, jowling describes the development or appearance of jowls—often the sagging or fullness along the jawline that can occur with aging, weight fluctuation, or genetic factors. In medical or dermatological contexts, the term may be used to refer to laxity of skin and soft tissue in the mandibular area.

In culinary and historical contexts, jowling refers to the processing of hog jowls. This sense appears in traditional charcuterie and regional cookbooks where pork jowls are treated through curing, smoking, or other preservation methods, producing products such as salt pork or jowl bacon. The usage is regional and not part of a standardized culinary vocabulary.

A further, though uncommon, usage appears in dialect or colloquial speech, where some sources note a sense related to talking or social chatter, akin to “jawing.” In such cases, jowling is encountered mainly in historical texts or informal speech and is not widely adopted in contemporary usage.

Etymology traces the word to the noun jowl, referring to the facial region around the lower jaw. The verb forms are rare, and modern usage of jowling tends to be confined to the anatomical or culinary senses in niche contexts.