towel

== English == === 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; fillet”), Old English þwēan (“to wash”). === Pronunciation === enPR: toul, touʹəl IPA(key): /ˈtaʊ(ə)l/ (Philadelphia) IPA(key): [tʰæɫ] (Southern US) IPA(key): [tʰæɒ̯ɫ], [tʰɛjɔ̯ɫ] (Ottawa Valley) IPA(key): [təwəl], [tɤwəl], [tewəl] Rhymes: -aʊl, -aʊəl === Noun === towel (plural towels) A cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, such as a person after a bath. ==== Hyponyms ==== lavabo see also Derived terms below ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === towel (third-person singular simple present towels, present participle (US) toweling or (UK) towelling, simple past and past participle (US) toweled or (UK) towelled) (transitive) To hit with a towel. (transitive) To dry by using a towel. (transitive) To block up (a door, etc.) with a towel, to conceal the fumes of a recreational drug. (UK, dialect, obsolete, transitive) To beat with a stick, or "oaken towel". ==== Derived terms ==== towel down towel off towel up untoweled, untowelled === References === === Anagrams === Towle, owlet == Middle English == === Noun === towel (Late Middle English) alternative form of towayle