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.

---

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

---

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.

---

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

Example Sentences

Some models can spool this wire as far as 30 miles, which is about the breadth of the Strait of Hormuz at its narrowest point.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 26, 2026

She points out the spool of paper tickets in the box office, now coiling on the floor and ready to be counted.

From Salon • Dec. 18, 2025

A spool of tens of kilometres of cable is fitted to the bottom of a drone and the physical fibre optic cord is attached to the controller held by the pilot.

From BBC • May 28, 2025

She hit the buzzer at the first high chain-link fence, which was garlanded with a spool of razor wire atop.

From Slate • May 2, 2025

“It seems to be that way with most things. No one to do the really disagreeable jobs except oneself. And how exactly, will you use a spool of thread to save a princess?”

From "The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup and a Spool of Thread" by Kate DiCamillo

Related Words

• cylinder