Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Towel |
TowelNoun1. A rectangular piece of absorbent cloth (or paper) for drying or wiping. Verb1. Wipe with a towel; "towel your hair dry". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "towel" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Slang in 1811 | TOWEL. An oaken towel, a cudgel. To rub one down with an oaken towel; to beat or cudgel him. Source: 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A towel is a piece of absorbent fabric whose chief use is for drying objects, by drawing moisture (usually water) from the object, into the fabric, through direct contact, with either a blotting or rubbing motion.Towels are usually provided in hotel and motel rooms for the guests to use.
Types of Towels
Note: unlike the above-mentioned items, a kitchen towel is not made of fabric but rather is a perforated roll of absorbent paper normally fixed to a wall-mounted horizontal rod a little longer than the width of the roll.
- A bath towel is used for drying one's body after bathing or showering. It is typically rectangular, with a size somewhere around 75x150 cm.
- A beach towel is usually a little bit larger than a bath towel. Although it is often used for drying off after being in the water, its chief purpose is to provide a surface to lay on. Beach towels often have colourful patterns printed or woven into them.
- A hand towel is significantly smaller than a bath towel (perhaps 30x60 cm), and is used for drying one's hands after washing them.
- A paper towel is a piece of paper that can be used once to dry face or hands and may be found, usually folded, in small metal dispensers in schools, workplaces and public toilets.
- A tea towel is a cloth which you use to dry dishes, cutlery, etc., after they have been washed. (Used in British English.)
Alternative uses
Towels are often used for purposes other than drying things.
- Wrapped around one's body, a towel acts as a make-shift garment (also for changing clothes on the beach etc.).
- Removing sand from the body or things on a sandy beach
- To sit, lay and stand on, to avoid direct contact with the ground, rock, chair, etc. This may be to avoid getting dirty or sandy, because it is more comfortable, and in the case of partial or full nudity, to avoid making the chair dirty.
Cultural significance
Towels have long been thought of as nothing more than utilitarian objects that everybody has, but about which nobody really thinks twice. This changed when Douglas Adams' The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy attained cult status in the 1980s. He described his characters travelling around his universe, often as hitch-hikers, finding that towels were the most "massively useful" objects they could carry. The fictitious time/space traveller and Guide Researcher Ford Prefect uses the idiom "a guy who always knows where his towel is" to mean someone generally alert and aware, someone who in 1960's Earth slang might have called "with it".
Fans of Adams' books have seized on this idea, and towels are now considered a symbol of one's devotion to the Hitchhiker books, radio series, TV series, website, etc.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Towel."
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Cleanness | Napkin, cloth, maukin, malkin, handkerchief, towel, sudary; doyley, doily, duster, sponge, mop, swab. |
Punishment | Strike; deal a blow to, administer the lash, smite; slap, slap the face; smack, cuff, box the ears, spank, thwack, thump, beat, lay on, swinge, buffet; thresh, thrash, pummel, drub, leather, trounce, sandbag, baste, belabor; lace, lace one's jacket; dress, dress down, give a dressing, trim, warm, wipe, tund, cob, bang, strap, comb, lash, lick, larrup, wallop, whop, flog, scourge, whip, birch, cane, give the stick, switch, flagellate, horsewhip, bastinado, towel, rub down with an oaken towel, rib roast, dust one's jacket, fustigate, pitch into, lay about one, beat black and blue; beat to a mummy, beat to a jelly; give a black eye. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Towel |
| English words defined with "towel": bath mat, bath towel, beach towel ♦ dish towel ♦ face towel, fomite ♦ hand towel, holder ♦ Jack towel ♦ paper towel ♦ roller towel ♦ tea towel, terry towel, thriftily, Towall, Towel gourd, towel ring, Turkish towel. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "towel": CONTINUOUS-TOWEL ROLLER, CUTTER, ROTARY SHEAR ♦ DOG BATHER ♦ FABRICATOR, SHOWER DOORS AND PANELS ♦ roller printer, ROLLER VARNISHER, ROLLER-PRINT TENDER, RUG-CLEANER HELPER ♦ TOWEL-CABINET REPAIRER, towel-rolling-machine operator ♦ WAFER MOUNTER. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "towel": Towall. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Can I borrow your towel, my car just hit a water buffalo (Fletch; writing credit: Andrew Bergman) Will you hand me a towel, tulip (Pulp Fiction; writing credit: Quentin Tarantino; Roger Avary) Oh oh. And a cold towel for your Auntie Vera (Auntie Mame; writing credit: Betty Comden; Patrick Dennis) Could you pass me the towel, please (Red Planet; writing credit: Chuck Pfarrer) If you're going to survive out there, you've really got to know where you towel is. (The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy; writing credit: Douglas Adams; John Lloyd) | |
Lyrics | Your towel in, son (Feels Good; performing artist: Naughty By Nature) Wraps A Towel Around Her (Another Day; performing artist: Paul McCartney) Grabs a towel, looks away (Blinded (When I See You); performing artist: THIRD EYE BLIND) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Great Towel Robbery (1913) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
References | |||
Books | |||
Music |
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Consumer Goods |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | An older woman stands in a yellow bathroom between a shower and a window, wrapped in a blue towel, drying off. See artwork: GR-42. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |  | Shown is a close-up of the feet of a man standing on a bathroom scale with a towel lying nearby. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |
 | A rear view of a black woman performing a breast self-examination (BSE) and is dressed in a towel framed against a brown-gold background. See artwork: GR-42. Credit: Bill Branson (photographer). |  | Man in bath with towel looking at robed couple. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Where's the towel. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Tarawa wounded--Marines wounded at Tarawa are taken back to a troopship in a landing barge for transfer to a base hospital. One Marine (left) lies in the bottom of the boat while one on the hatch cover is covered with a towel to keep flies out of his woun. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | The Towel. Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |  |
| "Man & towel" by Tina Lorien Commentary: ""Is there anybody out there?"." | "Spider on fabric" by Dennis Bale Commentary: "A spider sits on a towel. He's only about 1cm long." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. | |
| Play | Caption |
 | Clean; clean off; clear; dry; dust; erase; mop; obliterate; remove; rub; sponge; swab; take away; towel; wash; squeak. |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
So Long, and Thanks For All the Fish | Douglas Adams | He sat on a step, took from his satchel a bottle of that Ol' Janx Spirit and a towel. He opened the bottle and wiped the top of it with the towel, which had the opposite effect to the one intended, in that the Ol' Janx Spirit instantly killed off millions of the germs which had been slowly building up quite a complex and enlightened civilization on the smellier patches of the towel |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Dry off with a clean towel. (references) | |
Towel dry or shower immediately after leaving the water. (references) | ||
Also, they do not towel dry themselves when leaving the water. (references) | ||
Business | A further development in the towel market is that of the leisure-time towel with attractive motives. (references) | |
In addition to color, the structure of the towel continues to play a significant role ranging from ribbed patterns, jacquards to interesting combinations of yarns and terry cloth. (references) | ||
It is important to note that typical German department stores do not offer a large variety of colors but rather different styles of towels (hand towel, towelette, wash cloth, beach towel, embroidered hand towel, washing mitt, etc.) in a smaller choice of colors. (references) | ||
Economic History | Bangladesh | At a Pakistani-American towel factory in Chittagong in February 2001, a pay dispute triggered a long strike, but no injuries were reported. (references) |
Brazil | Products imported from the United States include kitchen accessories and tools, towel heaters, security and surveillance systems, toilet fan systems, smoke detectors, fire resistant doors, air conditioning systems, silverware, china, cleaning carts and accessories, as well as laundry and dry cleaning equipment. (references) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Samantha Geimer | So I'm feigning my asthma attack, you know, I got out, put a towel on and everything. We walked in the house. And I was going, you know, I really don't feel good, I'm having trouble breathing. I don't remember exactly what I said. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| "Towel" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 99.77% of the time. "Towel" is used about 872 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 99.77% | 870 | 8,151 |
| Noun (common) | 0.23% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 872 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "towel": bath towel ♦ beach towel ♦ dish towel ♦ face towel ♦ guest towel ♦ hand towel ♦ Jack towel ♦ paper towel ♦ paper towel dispenser ♦ roller towel ♦ round towel ♦ sanitary towel ♦ tea towel ♦ terry towel ♦ terrycloth towel ♦ throw in the towel ♦ towel bar ♦ towel down ♦ Towel gourd ♦ towel hanger ♦ towel horse ♦ towel rack ♦ towel rail ♦ towel ring ♦ turkish towel. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "towel": towel-draped, towel-dried, towel-dry, towel-drying, towel-fights, towel-headed, towel-heads, towel-heater, towel-holders, towel-off, towel-rail, towel-rails. | |
Ending with "towel": tea-towel. | |
Containing "towel": sterile-towel-covered. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
beach towel | 5,380 | monogrammed towel | 53 |
towel | 1,468 | hooded towel | 52 |
bath towel | 558 | tea towel | 52 |
towel bar | 307 | bathroom towel rack | 50 |
towel rack | 256 | cannon towel | 50 |
tan towel | 224 | fieldcrest towel | 50 |
paper towel holder | 194 | personalized towel | 49 |
golf towel | 188 | towel wrap | 48 |
kitchen towel | 185 | tanning towel | 47 |
paper towel | 174 | luxury towel | 46 |
towel warmer | 162 | embroidered towel | 44 |
baby towel | 130 | discount towel | 44 |
microfiber towel | 118 | ralph lauren towel | 44 |
wholesale towel | 112 | personalized beach towel | 43 |
paper towel dispenser | 86 | turkish towel | 41 |
bathroom towel | 82 | dish towel | 41 |
hand towel | 73 | wholesale beach towel | 40 |
bounty paper towel | 73 | double towel bar | 38 |
towel cake | 62 | bathroom towel bar | 37 |
towel wedding cake | 62 | towel stand | 34 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "towel"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | peshqir (jack-towel). (various references) | |
Arabic | فوطة (spread), منشفة الكاسات, منشفة الأيد, منشفة, مسح بفوطة, نشف بفوطة. (various references) | |
Asturian | toballa. (various references) | |
Basque | eskuzapi. (various references) | |
Bavarian | handduach. (various references) | |
Bemba | itaulo. (various references) | |
Blackfoot | iihtáíssisskioohsao'p. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | хавлия (bathrobe), кърпа (cloth, wrap), налагам (enforce, enjoin, force, force upon, hammer, inculcate, indicate, inflict, levy, necessitate, predicate, punish, ramrod, superimpose, thrust, thrust on, wallop), подсушавам с кърпа, пердаша (baste, drub, leather, pelt, tan, thrash), пешкир, избърсвам с кърпа. (various references) | |
Catalan | tovallola. (various references) | |
Cebuano | tualya. (various references) | |
Chamorro | tu'aya. (various references) | |
Chinese | 毛巾 . (various references) | |
Cornish | towal. (various references) | |
Czech | utírat ruèníkem, utìrka (cloth, dish cloth, dishcloth, dishtowel, rubber, tea towel), ručník, ruèník (Jack, jack-towel), osuška, nařezat (cut up). (various references) | |
Danish | håndklæde. (various references) | |
Dutch | handdoek. (various references) | |
Esperanto | mantuko. (various references) | |
Faeroese | turkiklæði (dish cloth, dust rag). (various references) | |
Farsi | حوله , ابچین , دستمال کاغذی (Kleenex), باحوله خشک کردن . (various references) | |
Finnish | pyyhinliina, pyyhe (cloth), käsipyyhe. (various references) | |
French | serviette. (various references) | |
Frisian | handoek. (various references) | |
German | Handtuch (hand towel). (various references) | |
Greek | πετσέτα (napkin). (various references) | |
Hawaiian | peshqir. (various references) | |
Hebrew | מגבת, לנגב (absterge, dry, mop, sop up, swab, wipe), אלונטית. (various references) | |
Hungarian | törülközik (to dry), törülközõ, törülköző (diaper), törülközô. (various references) | |
Indonesian | handuk. (various references) | |
Inuktitut | allarut. (various references) | |
Italian | asciugamano (hand towel). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 手拭い , 手拭き , 手拭 , 手ぬぐい , タイ国 (dinner suit, taxi, Thailand, towel-blanket, towelket, town, tuxedo, type of bed linen resembling a large beach towel and used to cover oneself in hot weather). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | タオル , てふき, てぬぐい. (various references) | |
Korean | 수건. (various references) | |
Macedonian | krpa. (various references) | |
Malay | tuala, handuk. (various references) | |
Manx | tovalley (towelling), toval, annrit, aanrit (dowlas). (various references) | |
Maori | tauera. (various references) | |
Mohawk | yontya'tokewàtha. (various references) | |
Norwegian | håndkle (dish cloth, dust rag). (various references) | |
Occitan | servieta. (various references) | |
Papago | toaya. (various references) | |
Papiamen | sarbètè. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | oweltay.(various references) | |
Polish | ręcznik. (various references) | |
Portuguese | toalha (jack-towel). (various references) | |
Provencal | servieta (napkin). (various references) | |
Romanian | prosop, pânzãturã, ştergar, şervet (diaper, napkin, serviette). (various references) | |
Romansch | sientamauns. (various references) | |
Romany | màrhama. (various references) | |
Ruanda | iswime. (various references) | |
Russian | полотенце (face towel, jack-towel, wiper). (various references) | |
Samoan | solo. (various references) | |
Scottish | tubhailt, searbhadair, searadair. (various references) | |
Sepedi | hantuku. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | ubrus (napkin), peškir (jack-towel), brisati peškirom. (various references) | |
Spanish | toalla (horsetowel). (various references) | |
Swazi | li-tháwula. (various references) | |
Swedish | handduk. (various references) | |
Turkish | havlu ile kurulamak, havlu. (various references) | |
Turkmen | polotenste (r). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | серветка (doily, napkin, overlay, serviette, table napkin), рушник (wiper), витирати рушником, бити (bang, batter, beat, castigate, chastise, chime, cob, hit, lambaste, lay into, maul, sing out, souse, thump, trounce, whop). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | khăn lau, dùi cui (club, cudgel). (various references) | |
Welsh | lliain (cloth, linen). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Turkish | 1200-Modern | maqrama. (various references) |
| French | 1500-Modern | serviette. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Language | Date | Source | John Chapter 13, Verse 4 |
| Greek (transliterated) | 250 BC | Septuagint | Egeiretai ek tou deipnou kai tiqhsin ta imatia kai labwn lention diezwsen eauton |
| Latin | 405 | Vulgate | Surgit a cena et ponit vestimenta sua et cum accepisset linteum praecinxit se |
| Old English | 990 | West Saxon | He aras fram hys þegnunge. & legdehys reaf. & nam linen rail & be-gerte hine. |
| Middle English | 1395 | Wyclif | And goith to God, he risith fro the souper, and doith of hise clothis; and whanne he hadde takun a lynun cloth, he girde hym. |
| Renaissance English | 1526 | Tyndale | He rose from supper and layde a syde his vpper garmentes and toke a towell and gyrd him selfe. |
| Jacobean English | 1611 | King James | He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. |
| Victorian English | 1833 | Webster | He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. |
| Basic English | 1964 | Ogden | Got up from table, put off his robe and took a cloth and put it round him. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | John Chapter 13, Verse 4 |
| Cebuano | mitindog siya gikan sa kan-anan, mihukas sa iyang mga sapot ug gibaksan niyag tualya ang iyang kaugalingon. |
| Chinese | 就 離 席 站 起 來 脫 了 衣 服 、 拿 一 條 手 巾 束 腰 。 |
| Croatian | usta od veèere, odloži haljine, uze ubrus i opasa se. |
| Danish | så rejser han sig fra Måltidet og lægger sine Klæder fra sig, og han tog et Linklæde og bandt det om sig. |
| Dutch | Stond op van het avondmaal, en legde Zijn klederen af, en nemende een linnen doek, omgordde Zichzelven. |
| Finnish | nousi ehtoolliselta ja riisui vaippansa, otti liinavaatteen ja vyötti sillä itsensä. |
| French | se leva de table, ôta ses vêtements, et prit un linge, dont il se ceignit. |
| German | stand er von Abendmahl auf, legte seine Kleider ab und nahm einen Schurz und umgürtete sich. |
| Haitian Creole | Li leve sot devan tab la, li wete gwo rad li a, li pran yon sèvyèt, li mare l' nan ren li. |
| Indonesian-Bahasa Sehari-hari | Sebab itu Ia berdiri, membuka jubah-Nya, dan mengikat anduk pada pinggang-Nya. |
| Indonesian-Terjemahan Lama | maka bangunlah Ia daripada makan, serta menanggalkan jubah-Nya, lalu mengambil sehelai kain, dan mengikat pinggang-Nya. |
| Maori | Ka whakatika ia i te hapa, ka whakarere i ona kakahu; ka mau ki te tauera, ka whitiki i a ia. |
| Norwegian | så står han op fra måltidet og legger sine klær av sig og tar et linklæde og binder om sig. |
| Portuguese | levantou-se da ceia, tirou o manto e, tomando uma toalha, cingiu-se. |
| Rumanian | S -a sculat dela masq, S`a desbrqcat de hainele Lui, a luat un wtergar, wi S`a kncins cu el. |
| Shuar | Chíkich yurumuk pujuiniai wajakmiayi. Tura pushirin aimiak awankéman emenmamamiayi. |
| Swahili | Basi, Yesu aliondoka mezani, akaweka kando vazi lake, akachukua kitambaa na kujifunga kiunoni. |
| Swedish | Men han stod upp från måltiden och lade av sig överklädnaden och tog en linneduk och band den om sig. |
| Uma | Toe pai' pokore-nami, naroncu baju-na, pai' na'ala' abe' napehoo' hi hope' -na. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "towel": toweled, towelette, towelettes, toweling, towelings, towelled, towelling, towellings, towels. (additional references) | |
Words ending with "towel": dishtowel. (additional references) | |
Words containing "towel": dishtowels. (additional references) | |
| |
"Towel" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cowel, fowel, lowel, otel, othel, showel, Tawil, tawle, tewe, tewl, toel, Tofeili, tohel, tomwe, topel, torel, Toselli, totel, tovel, Towe, Toweel, towell, towem, towen, towic, towl, towle, towler, towse, towte, towzel, tuel, tweel, twoe, twool. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "towel" (pronounced tou"ul or tou"l) |
| 3 | -ou" u l | bowel, dowel, vowel. |
| 2 | -ou" l | afoul, cowl, foul, fowl, growl, howl, jowl, owl, prowl, scowl. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: owlet. | |
| Words within the letters "e-l-o-t-w" | |
-1 letter: lowe, tole, welt. | |
-2 letters: let, lot, low, ole, owe, owl, tel, tew, toe, tow, two, wet, woe, wot. | |
-3 letters: el, et, lo, oe, ow, to, we, wo. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-l-o-t-w" | |
+1 letter: howlet, lowest, owlets, towels, trowel. | |
+2 letters: felwort, howlets, letdown, outflew, outwile, slowest, teabowl, toweled, towline, townlet, trowels, whortle. | |
+3 letters: bellwort, bestowal, blowiest, blowtube, colewort, felworts, fleawort, floweret, jowliest, latewood, leadwort, letdowns, lowliest, meltdown, outlawed, outwiled, outwiles, pilewort, snowbelt, snowmelt, stowable, tallowed, teabowls, thowless, toweling, towelled, towlines, townless, townlets, troweled, troweler, twelvemo, wastelot, waterlog, waterloo, whortles, wontedly, wooliest, wouldest. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Sounds | 9. Quotations: Fiction 10. Quotations: Non-fiction 11. Quotations: Spoken 12. Usage Frequency | 13. Expressions 14. Expressions: Internet 15. Translations: Modern 16. Translations: Ancient | 17. Bible Trace 18. Derivations 19. Rhymes 20. Anagrams | 21. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
