towel

Etymology

From Middle English towayle, towel, towail, towaille, from Old French toaille (“towel”) (modern French touaille), Medieval Latin toallia, from Frankish *þwahilu (“cloth”), from Proto-Germanic *þwahaną (“to wash”). Cognate with Old High German dwahila (“towel”) (modern dialectal German Zwehle), Dutch dwaal (“towel”), dweil (“mop”), Low German Dweel (“towel”), Old English þwǣle (“band; ribbon; fillet”), Old English þwēan (“to wash”).

noun

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

verb

1. (transitive) To hit with a towel.
2. (transitive) To dry by using a towel.
   He got out of the shower and toweled himself dry.
3. (transitive) To block up (a door, etc.) with a towel, to conceal the fumes of a recreational drug.
   We would open the windows, towel the door, and turn my bedroom into an Allman Brothers concert. 2012, Dave Tomar, The Shadow Scholar: How I Made a Living Helping College Kids Cheat
4. (UK, dialect, obsolete, transitive) To beat with a stick, or "oaken towel".