spool

American  

[spool] / spul /

noun

1. any cylindrical piece or device on which something is wound.

2. a small cylindrical piece of wood or other material on which yarn is wound in spinning, for use in weaving; a bobbin.

3. a small cylinder of wood or other material on which thread, wire, or tape is wound, typically expanded or with a rim at each end and having a hole lengthwise through the center.

4. the material or quantity of material wound on such a device.

5. Angling. the cylindrical drum in a reel that bears the line.

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verb (used with object)

1. to wind on a spool.

2. to unwind from a spool (usually followed by off orout ).

3. Computers. to operate (an input/output device) by using buffers in main and secondary storage.

verb (used without object)

1. to wind.

2. to unwind.

spool British  

/ spuːl /

noun

1. a device around which magnetic tape, film, cotton, etc, can be automatically wound, with plates at top and bottom to prevent it from slipping off

2. anything round which other materials, esp thread, are wound

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verb

1. (sometimes foll by up) to wind or be wound onto a spool or reel

spool Scientific  

/ spo̅o̅l /

1. To store data that is sent to a device, such as a printer, in a buffer that the device reads. This procedure allows the program that sent the data to the device to resume its normal operation without waiting for the device to process the data.

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Other Word Forms

• spooler
  noun
• spoollike
  adjective
• unspool
  verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of spool

1275–1325; Middle English spole < Middle Dutch spoele or Middle Low German spōle; cognate with German Spule

Explanation

Fishing line, thread, and wire are usually wound around a special cylinder called a spool. If you enjoy sewing, you might buy spools of colored thread at the crafts store. Back in the days of cassette tapes, the magnetic tape would occasionally get tangled in the tape player and have to be wound back on its spool. You can use this word as a verb, too: "Will you spool that loose thread back on the bobbin for me?" Computer experts use spool to mean "store data temporarily," so they might spool computer files to a desktop folder, for example.

Example Sentences

There’s an “A thread” status that includes the Spool of Thread emoji, “Spoiler alert” with a Warning Sign emoji, or “AMA” with a microphone.

From The Verge • Jul. 28, 2022

Spool back to 1958 and it was quite a different story - the duke was making his own big impact in Wales.

From BBC • Apr. 9, 2021

And yet, “A Spool of Blue Thread” provides an unexpected sense of uplift.

From New York Times • Feb. 10, 2020

“Robots.txt is a big ‘No, don’t go any further’ sign on the web,” Spool said.

From Salon • Apr. 28, 2019

"Mr. Spool can't run away again," smiled Phronsie through her tears, and leaning out of her little wooden chair to see Joel drop the spool in.

From The Adventures of Joel Pepper by Sidney, Margaret

Related Words

• cylinder