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towel

to·wel

UK/ˈtaːəl/ US/ˈtaʊ̯əl/ common uk
noun (1) verb (1)

noun

1.

a rectangular piece of absorbent cloth (or paper) for drying or wiping

verb

1.

wipe with a towel

  • “towel your hair dry”

Origin

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”).

Phrases

  • towel down
  • towel off
  • towel up

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.