See Also: wattle(medicine)
wattle(1)(dictionary)
wattle(2)(dictionary)
wattle(dictionary)
willow wattle(medicine)

towel (iou) and wattle(1) (iou)


towel (iou)



towel noun & verb. ME.
[Old French toail(l)e (mod. touaille), from Germanic base also of Old English Twean, Old Saxon Twahan, Old High German dwahan, Old Norse Tva Gothic Twahan wash.]
A. noun.
A piece of rough-surfaced absorbent cloth used for drying a person or thing after washing or wetting. Also, a cloth or piece of absorbent paper used to dry plates, dishes, spillages, etc.; a tea towel. ME.
bath towel, hand-towel, kitchen towel, paper towel, roller towel, etc. chuck in the towel, throw in the towel colloq. (orig. Boxing) give up, admit defeat. Turkish towel: see TURKISH adjective.
Ecclesiastical. A cloth of linen, silk, etc., for use at communion or for covering the altar. Now rare or obsolete. ME.
b. A cloth used as a head-dress, girdle, etc. LME-M17.
In full oaken towel. A stick, a cudgel. slang. M18.
= SANITARY towel. L19.
Comb.: towel-gourd the loofah or dishcloth gourd, Luffa aegyptiaca; towelhead slang, offensive a person who wears a head-cloth or turban; towel-horse a frame or stand on which to hang towels; towel rail, towel ring: on which to hang towels.
b. verb. Infl. -ll-, *-l-.
verb trans. Beat, cudgel, thrash. Also (Austral.) foll. by up. slang. E18.
verb trans. & intrans. Rub, wipe, or dry (esp. oneself) with a towel. Also foll. by at, down, off. M19.
M. Crichton The girls got out of the pool..and began toweling off. Times Miller towelled himself..as if he had just emerged from a shower.
towelette noun a small towel; esp. a small paper or cloth towel, pre-moistened and in a sealed package, used for cleansing: E20.
towelled adjective wrapped in a towel E20.

wattle(1) (iou)



wattle noun1 & verb.

A. noun.
Rods or stakes interlaced with twigs or branches as a material for making fences, walls, roofs, etc.; sing. & in pl., rods and branches collected for this purpose. OE.
wattle and daub wattle twigs plastered with clay or mud and used as a building material.
A rod, a stick. dial. L16.
A wicker hurdle. dial. M17.
More fully wattle-tree [from the early settlers' use of the boughs to build huts]. In Australia: any of numerous indigenous acacias, chiefly with long pliant boughs and freq. with fragrant golden flowers. L18.
Cootamundra wattle, golden wattle, silver wattle, etc.
b. verb trans.
Construct (a building, wall, fence, etc.) of wattle. LME.
b. Construct (a sheepfold) with hurdles. L18.
Interlace (rods, twigs, etc.) to form wattle. L15.
Cover, enclose, or fill up with wattle. Also foll. by about. M16.
Bind together (rods or stakes) with interlaced twigs or branches. Also foll. by across. E17.
Enclose (sheep) in a sheepfold. dial. L19.
wattling noun (a) = WATTLE noun1 1; (b) the action of the verb: ME.