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English

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Etymology

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From Middle English towayle, towel, towail, towaille, from Old French toaille (towel) (modern French touaille), Medieval Latin toallia, from Frankish *þwahilu (cloth), from Proto-Germanic *þwahaną (to wash). Cognate with Old High German dwahila (towel) (modern dialectal German Zwehle), Dutch dwaal (towel), dweil (mop), Low German Dweel (towel), Old English þwǣle (band; ribbon; fillet), Old English þwēan (to wash).

Pronunciation

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Particularly: "Southern American English"

Noun

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towel (plural towels)

  1. A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, such as a person after a bath.

Hyponyms

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Derived terms

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Descendants

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  • Tok Pisin: taul
  • Fiji Hindi: taul
  • Gujarati: ટુવાલ (ṭuvāl)
  • Iban: tawil
  • Japanese: タオル (taoru)
  • Korean: 타월 (tawol)
  • Marshallese: to̧o̧l
  • Swahili: taulo
  • Volapük: taul
  • Xhosa: ítáwuli

Translations

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Verb

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towel (third-person singular simple present towels, present participle toweling or towelling, simple past and past participle toweled or towelled)

  1. (transitive) To hit with a towel.
  2. (transitive) To dry by using a towel.
    He got out of the shower and toweled himself dry.
  3. (transitive) To block up (a door, etc.) with a towel, to conceal the fumes of a recreational drug.
    • 2012, Dave Tomar, The Shadow Scholar: How I Made a Living Helping College Kids Cheat:
      We would open the windows, towel the door, and turn my bedroom into an Allman Brothers concert.
  4. (UK, dialect, obsolete, transitive) To beat with a stick, or "oaken towel".[1]

Derived terms

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References

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Anagrams

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Middle English

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Noun

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towel

  1. Alternative form of towayle