towel

[ tou-uhl, toul ]
See synonyms for towel on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an absorbent cloth or paper for wiping and drying something wet, as one for the hands, face, or body after washing or bathing.

verb (used with object),tow·eled, tow·el·ing or (especially British) tow·elled, tow·el·ling.
  1. to wipe or dry with a towel.

Idioms about towel

  1. throw in the towel, Informal. to concede defeat; give up; yield: He vowed he would never throw in the towel.

Origin of towel

1
1250–1300; Middle English (noun) <Old French toaille cloth for washing or wiping <West Germanic *thwahliō (>Old High German dwahilla, akin to dwahal bath); cognate with Gothic thwahl, thwēal washing

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use towel in a sentence

  • Dey's squar little towels what you holds in yer lap to wipe yer fingers on when you've done eatin'.

    The Cromptons | Mary J. Holmes
  • She peered around the room for the last time, and then dropped two small clean towels and a cake of soap into the bag.

    The Box-Car Children | Gertrude Chandler Warner
  • Mariequita ran over to Victor's room, and returned with some towels, which she gave to Edna.

  • So the boys took the dish towels and helped dry the dishes, without any accidents.

    Seven O'Clock Stories | Robert Gordon Anderson
  • If I were a woman and wanted to win a man, I should make him take me shopping when he needed new towels!

    The Idyl of Twin Fires | Walter Prichard Eaton

British Dictionary definitions for towel

towel

/ (ˈtaʊəl) /


noun
  1. a square or rectangular piece of absorbent cloth or paper used for drying the body

  2. a similar piece of cloth used for drying plates, cutlery, etc

  1. throw in the towel See throw in (def. 4)

verb-els, -elling or -elled or US -els, -eling or -eled (tr)
  1. to dry or wipe with a towel

  2. (often foll by up) Australian slang to assault or beat (a person)

Origin of towel

1
C13: from Old French toaille, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German dwahal bath, Old Saxon twahila towel, Gothic thwahan to wash

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with towel

towel

see crying towel; throw in the sponge (towel).

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.