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Spool

//spuːl// noun, verb

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle.

    "If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool."

  2. 2
    A small swimming pool that can be used also as a spa.
  3. 3
    a winder around which thread or tape or film or other flexible materials can be wound wordnet
  4. 4
    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.

    "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."

  5. 5
    A temporary storage area for electronic mail, etc.
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    A splinter caught in the skin. West, Yorkshire
Verb
  1. 1
    To wind on a spool or spools.
  2. 2
    wind onto a spool or a reel wordnet
  3. 3
    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).
  4. 4
    transfer data intended for a peripheral device (usually a printer) into temporary storage wordnet

Etymology

Etymology 1

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.

Etymology 2

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.

Etymology 3

From blend of spa + pool.

See also for "spool"

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