What does towel mean?

Definitions for towel
ˈtaʊ əl, taʊltow·el

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word towel.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. towelverb

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

  2. towelverb

    wipe with a towel

    "towel your hair dry"

Wiktionary

  1. towelnoun

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

  2. towelverb

    To hit with a towel.

  3. towelverb

    To dry by using a towel.

    He got out of the shower and toweled himself dry.

  4. Etymology: From towel, from toaille (Modern touaille), of origin, from Low *, from þwahilō, from þwahanan, from twak-. Cognate with dwahila (Modern dialectal Zwehle), dwaal, dweil, þwean.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Towelnoun

    A cloath on which the hands are wiped.

    Etymology: touaille, French; touaglio, Italian.

    His arm must be kept up with a napkin or towel. Richard Wiseman.

    Th’ attendants water for their hands supply,
    And having wash’d, with silken towels dry. John Dryden, Æn.

Wikipedia

  1. Towel

    A towel is a piece of absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or wiping a body or a surface. It draws moisture through direct contact. In households, several types of fabric towels are used, including hand towels, bath towels, Bathrobes and kitchen towels. At the beach, people use beach towels. Paper towels are provided in commercial or office bathrooms via a dispenser for users to dry their hands. In households they are used for minor, precision, or particularly dirty jobs of wiping, cleaning, and drying.

ChatGPT

  1. towel

    A towel is a type of absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or wiping. It is commonly used to clean hands, bodies or surfaces and is often used at home, in the gym, or at the beach. Towels come in various sizes, colors, and materials, some of which are specifically designed for certain uses like bathing, hand drying, or kitchen use.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Towelnoun

    a cloth used for wiping, especially one used for drying anything wet, as the person after a bath

  2. Towelverb

    to beat with a stick

Wikidata

  1. Towel

    A towel is a piece of absorbent fabric or paper used for drying or wiping. It draws moisture through direct contact, often using a blotting or a rubbing motion. Common household textile towels are made from cotton, rayon, bamboo, nonwoven fibers or a few other materials.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Towel

    tow′el, n. a cloth for wiping the skin after it is washed, and for other purposes: an altar-cloth.—ns. Tow′el-horse, -rack, a frame for hanging towels on; Tow′elling, cloth for towels: a thrashing.—A lead towel, a bullet; An oaken towel, a cudgel. [O. Fr. touaille—Old High Ger. twahilla (Ger. zwehle)—Old High Ger. twahan, to wash.]

Dictionary of Nautical Terms

  1. towel

    A word very absurdly introduced into marine law. "If a mariner," says Molloy, "shall commit a fault, and the master shall lift up the towel three times before any mariner, and he shall not submit, the master at the next place of land may discharge him." Some think that this refers to an oaken stick, but it is no doubt corrupted from the oster la touaille, or turning a delinquent out of his mess, of the laws of Oleron.

Editors Contribution

  1. towel

    A type of product created and designed in various colors, materials, shapes, sizes and styles.

    Towels are so useful for a wide variety of things.


    Submitted by MaryC on February 17, 2020  

Matched Categories

British National Corpus

  1. Nouns Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'towel' in Nouns Frequency: #2558

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

How to pronounce towel?

How to say towel in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of towel in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of towel in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3

Examples of towel in a Sentence

  1. The Texas senator:

    Donald Trump could end up exceeding 50 percent of the vote in the GOP race, which would be a first for Donald Trump in any state and give Donald Trump a shot at claiming all 95 of the state's delegates. Incoming returns show him with roughly 62 percent. Fox News projects that Ohio Gov. John Kasich will place second in the state, leaving Texas Sen. Cruz to finish third.Cruz, though, has all along downplayed Trump’s New York performance as expected in Ohio Gov. John Kasich home state. The latest headlines on the 2016 elections from the biggest name in politics. See Latest Fox News also projects that Democrat Hillary Clinton will defeat Vermont Sen. Sanders in New York on the Democratic side. Primary front-runners Democrat Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both were seeking big rebound victories Tuesday after recent campaign setbacks. Texas Sen. Cruz has complicated Trump's path to the nomination by winning in recent contests like Wisconsin, and getting allies elected to several states' delegate slates. On the Democratic side, Sanders had been on a winning streak up until Tuesday -- claiming victory in seven of the eight prior contests. Whether Donald Trump and Clinton's performance Tuesday will be enough for either to wrap up the race in the coming weeks remains an open question. While the primary map seems to be shifting in the near-term to friendly territory for the front-runners, Trump in particular still faces a tough path to clinching the nomination pre-convention if his rivals choose to stay and fight. Texas Sen. Cruz, who infamously panned Trump's New York values earlier in the primary, had been bracing for a tough showing in the Empire State and showed no signs of throwing in the towel. The Texas senator was already looking ahead on the primary calendar, turning The Texas senator attention to Pennsylvania, where The Texas senator delivered a speech calling on Americans to join together to move the country forward. It is time for us to get up, shake it off and be who we were destined to be.

  2. Edward Fine:

    The woman who gave me the wet paper towel as we descended the stairs and which I later used to breathe through; the firefighters who were ascending the stairs as we were descending; the Catholic priest who put his hand on my shoulder and prayed for us as we lay on the street being covered by dust and debris, then there was the bus driver who took us uptown… those people all come to my mind.

  3. Richard Rosenfeld:

    Keep water out of the ear if at all possible, dry the ear after swimming with the edge of a towel or blow dry. You can also use alcohol drops.

  4. Paton Walsh:

    Always pack a towel and don't drink tap water, anywhere.

  5. Hugh Elliott:

    Listen. Do not have an opinion while you listen because frankly, your opinion doesn't hold much water outside of Your Universe. Just listen. Listen until their brain has been twisted like a dripping towel and what they have to say is all over the floor.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

towel#10000#10194#100000

Translations for towel

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"towel." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2025. Web. 10 Feb. 2025. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/towel>.

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