Library / English Dictionary

TOWEL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: towelled    , towelling   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("towel" is a kind of...):

piece of cloth; piece of material (a separate part consisting of fabric)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "towel"):

bath towel (a large towel; to dry yourself after a bath)

beach towel (very large towel to dry yourself after swimming)

dish towel; dishtowel; tea towel (a towel for drying dishes)

face towel; hand towel (a small towel used to dry the hands or face)

paper towel (a disposable towel made of absorbent paper)

roller towel (a towel with the ends sewn together, hung on a roller)

Derivation:

towel (wipe with a towel)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Wipe with a towel

Example:

towel your hair dry

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "towel" is one way to...):

pass over; wipe (rub with a circular motion)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

To prevent community-associated MRSA: • Practice good hygiene • Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with a bandage until healed • Avoid contact with other people's wounds or bandages • Avoid sharing personal items, such as towels, washcloths, razors, or clothes • Wash soiled sheets, towels, and clothes in hot water with bleach and dry in a hot dryer

(MRSA, NIH: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases)

Then the Tin Woodman wept for several minutes, and she watched the tears carefully and wiped them away with the towel.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

“Why, here are the cards themselves!” cried he; and he pulled a brown towel from something in the centre of the sideboard.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With a wet towel bound about his aching brow, he had been at work all day.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

There I found my blessed darling stopping her ears behind the door, with her dear little face against the wall; and Jip in the plate-warmer with his head tied up in a towel.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He dipped the end of a towel in cold water and with it began to flick him on the face, his wife all the while holding her face between her hands and sobbing in a way that was heart-breaking to hear.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

When they arrived at Mr Korbes’s house, he was not at home; so the mice drew the carriage into the coach-house, Chanticleer and Partlet flew upon a beam, the cat sat down in the fireplace, the duck got into the washing cistern, the pin stuck himself into the bed pillow, the millstone laid himself over the house door, and the egg rolled himself up in the towel.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

I was spared the trouble of answering, for Bessie seemed in too great a hurry to listen to explanations; she hauled me to the washstand, inflicted a merciless, but happily brief scrub on my face and hands with soap, water, and a coarse towel; disciplined my head with a bristly brush, denuded me of my pinafore, and then hurrying me to the top of the stairs, bid me go down directly, as I was wanted in the breakfast-room.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He was swinging a towel in front of Harrison as he spoke, whilst Baldwin mopped him with the sponge.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

So passed Sunday, and Monday morning he was hard at work, sorting clothes, while Joe, a towel bound tightly around his head, with groans and blasphemies, was running the washer and mixing soft-soap.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)