spool
/spuːl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.84 in modern English
7
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle.
noun
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.
noun
A temporary storage area for electronic mail, etc.
verb
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).
noun
A small swimming pool that can be used also as a spa.
Example Sentences
- "If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool."
- "The high-pressure spool rotates faster than the intermediate- and low-pressure spools, as the high-pressure turbine is driven by superheated combustion gases straight out of the burners, while the high-pressure compressor has to spin very fast to compress air that has already been compressed and heated by the low- and intermediate-pressure compressors."
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.