trowel

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English trowell, trouel, truel, from Middle French truelle, from Late Latin truella, from Classical Latin trulla, the diminutive of trua (“ladle”). Doublet of trullo. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtɹaʊ.əl/ Rhymes: -aʊəl === Noun === trowel (plural trowels) A mason’s tool, used in spreading and dressing mortar, and breaking bricks to shape them. A gardener’s tool, shaped like a scoop, used in taking up plants, stirring soil etc. A tool used for smoothing a mold. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === trowel (third-person singular simple present trowels, present participle (US) troweling or (UK) trowelling, simple past and past participle (US) troweled or (UK) trowelled) (transitive) To apply (a substance) with a trowel. (transitive) To pass over with a trowel. (colloquial, figurative) To apply something heavily or unsubtly. ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === trowel on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Trowel in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911) === Anagrams === Towler, Wolter