towel (2), towail, towaille, to well

[Fr. touaille a towel; O. Fr. toaille, toeille; Low Lat. toacula; Sp. to all a; Ital. tovaglia. All of Teutonic origin, from O. H. Ger. twahilla, dwahilla; M. H. Ger. dwehele; Ger.zwehle=a towel, from O. H. Ger. twahan; M. H. Ger. dwahen =to wash; Icel. thvá (pa. par. thveginn ); Dan.toe; A. S. thweán (for thwahan); Goth.thwahan =to wash. Cf. Dut. dwaal =a towel; dweil =a clout.] I. Ord. Lang .: A cloth used for wiping the hands, face, ., especially after washing any cloth used as a wiper in domestic use. "The attendants water for their hands supply: And, having wash'd, with silken towels dry." II. Ecclesiastical : Dryden: Virgil's Æneid , i. 983. IMG:content-1279.png:[blocks in formation] (2) Anoaken towel : A cudgel. ( Slang .) "I have a good oaken towel at your service." -Smollett : Humphrey Clinker , i. 83. towel-gourd, s . Bot.: Luffa ægyptiaca , or pentandra , Momordica Luffa ( Linn .), and the Louff or Louffah of the Arabs. [LUFFA.] Fruit oblong, round, smooth, marked with longitudinal lines. It is from one to three feet long, and about three inches in diameter. When cleansed from the pulp it is used by the natives as a sponge or flesh-rubber. and is also employed in the manufacture of hats, baskets, gun wadding, . Louffahs are now largely imported into other countries and sold under their Arabic name as flesh-rubbers. [LOOFAH.]