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towel

Pronunciation: /ˈtaʊ̯əl/

The English word “towel” has 5 meanings listed here.

noun

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

verb

  1. To dry by using a towel.
  2. To hit with a towel.
  3. To block up (a door, etc.) with a towel, to conceal the fumes of a recreational drug.
  4. To beat with a stick, or "oaken towel".

Etymology

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;…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.