towel: [13] A towel is etymologically something for ‘washing’ with. The word comes from Old French toaille, which was a borrowing from prehistoric Germanic *thwakhliō. This was derived from the verb *thwakhan ‘wash’, whose modern descendants include Swedish tvätta and Danish tvætte ‘wash’. Another relative is Swedish tvål ‘soap’.
towel (n.)
mid-13c., from Old French toaille (12c.), from Frankish *thwahlja, from Proto-Germanic *thwahlijan (cognates: Old Saxon thwahila, Middle Dutch dwale "towel," Dutch dwaal "altar cloth," Old High German dwehila "towel," German dialectal Zwehle "napkin"); related to German zwagen, Old English þwean "to wash." Spanish toalla, Italian tovaglia are Germanic loan-words. To throw in the towel "admit defeat" (1915) is from boxing.
towel (v.)
1836 (transitive); 1861 (intransitive), from towel (n.). Related: Towelled; towelling.
实用例句
1. He wiped off the remains of the lather with a towel.
他用毛巾抹去余下的皂沫。来自柯林斯例句
2. She tore off two sections of paper towel and folded them lengthwise.
