spool
Meanings
Plural: spools
Noun
- a winder around which thread or tape or film or other flexible materials can be wound
- A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle.
- One of the rotating assemblies of a gas turbine engine, composed of one or more turbine stages, a shaft, and one or more compressor or fan stages.
- A temporary storage area for electronic mail, etc.
- A splinter caught in the skin.
- A small swimming pool that can be used also as a spa.
Verb
- transfer data intended for a peripheral device (usually a printer) into temporary storage
- wind onto a spool or a reel
- To wind on a spool or spools.
- To send files to a device or a program (a spooler or a daemon that puts them in a queue for processing at a later time).
Origin / Etymology
From Middle English spole (possibly via Old Northern French spole, espole), from Middle Dutch spoele, from Old Dutch *spōla, *spuola, from Proto-Germanic *spōlǭ (“spool”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pel- (“to cleave, split”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Spoule (“spool”), Dutch spoel (“spool”), German Spule (“spool”), Swedish spole (“spool”), Icelandic spóla (“spool; reel”). The aviation usage is based on the visual similarity of one of the spools of a turbine engine to a spool used for thread (especially in cross-section). See also spill.
Scrabble Score: 7
spool is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL wordspool is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
spool is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary
Words With Friends Score: 9
spool is a valid Words With Friends word