spool

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English[edit]

Spools

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /spuːl/
  • (file)
  • Rhymes: -uːl
  • Rhymes: -ʊəl

Etymology 1[edit]

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 *spel- (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).

Noun[edit]

spool (plural spools)

  1. A reel; a device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle.
    • 2011, Rebekah Modrak, Bill Anthes, Reframing Photography: Theory and Practice:
      If you need to reload film, the cassette can be rewound slightly by turning the hub located on one end of its spool.
  2. (aviation) 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.
  3. (computing) A temporary storage area for electronic mail, etc.
Derived terms[edit]

(rotating assembly of a turbine engine):

Translations[edit]

Verb[edit]

spool (third-person singular simple present spools, present participle spooling, simple past and past participle spooled)

  1. To wind on a spool or spools.
  2. (computing) 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).
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]

Etymology 2[edit]

From blend of spa +‎ pool.

Noun[edit]

spool (plural spools)

  1. A small swimming pool that can be used also as a spa.

Anagrams[edit]