troweln.

Brit.

/ˈtraʊəl/,

/traʊl/, U.S.

/ˈtraʊ(ə)l/

Forms: Middle English trowelle, Middle English–1600s truel, Middle English trowylle, 1600s trewel, Middle English–1700s trowell, 1500s truell, 1500s–1600s trewell, 1700s trouel, Middle English– trowel; also Middle English trulle, Middle English troll(e, 1600s trull, trule.

Etymology: Middle English truel, < Old French truele (13th cent.), French truelle (14th cent.), < vulgar or late Latin truella (1163 in Du Cange), for classical Latin trulla, diminutive of trua stirring-spoon, skimmer, ladle, whence the monosyllabic form.

a. A tool consisting of a flat (or, less commonly, rounded) plate of metal or wood, of various shapes, attached to a short handle; used by masons, bricklayers, plasterers, and others for spreading, moulding, or smoothing mortar, cement, and the like. to lay it on with a trowel, to express a thing coarsely or bluntly; now spec. to flatter excessively or grossly.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > masons' and bricklayers' tools > for spreading mortar or cement

trowel1344

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > exaggeration, hyperbole > speak or do with exaggeration [phrase]

to go beyond the moon?c1430

to cast beyond the moon1559

to lay on load?1562

to lay it on with a trowela1616

all (his) geese are swans1621

to draw (also pull, shoot) the long bow1667

to lay it on thick1740

to sling (also fling, throw) the hatchet1778

to come it1796

to make a thing about (also of)1813

to draw with the long-bow1823

to pitch it strong1823

to overegg the pudding1845

to put (spread, etc.) it on thick1865

to god it1870

to strong it1964

to stretch it (or things)1965

1344 Pipe Roll 18 Edw. III, m. 45 (P.R.O.) In..iiij. hamers, iiij. Trowellis, vj hirdellis pro lymeputtes..xxx. ladlis pro cemento fundendo.

c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Amos vii. 7 Loo! the Lord stondynge on a wall teerid, or morterd, and in the hond of hym a truel [a1425 L.V. trulle] of masoun.

1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum ii. iv. (Harl. 614) lf. 8 b/1 Aungels..ben seen to haue trollis & hangynge plometis and mesuris & towles & werke men.

c1440 Pallad. on Husb. i. 415 The parget of thy wough be strong & bryght; The trewel first ful ofte hit most distreyne.

1539 T. Elyot Castel of Helthe (new ed.) Pref. 1 I toke my penne in the stede of a truell.

?1577 F. T. Debate Pride & Lowlines sig. Cv A Bricklayer..A trewell at his gyrdle weared hee.

a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) i. ii. 99 Well said, that was laid on with a trowell .

1693 J. Evelyn tr. J. de La Quintinie Compl. Gard'ner ii. v. xiv. 110 The said Gum must be kept hot,..to be apply'd with a kind of Wooden Trule.

1719 Free-thinker No. 118. 2 Neither can Mr. Thornhill paint the Cupolo of Paul's with a Trowel.

1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece III. xxii. 237 They supplied the place both of hods and trowels with their hands.

1887 J. Ruskin Præterita II. x. 362 The instrument I finally decided to be the most difficult of management was the trowel.

b. A culinary ladle or slice of this shape. Cf. trowel-slicer n. at Compounds 1a.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > slice

slice1459

egg-slice1747

fish-slice1747

trowel1773

cake slice1813

fish-trowel1855

trowel-slicer1862

palette knife1889

cake server?1891

1773 London Chron. 7 Sept. 248/3 Fish and pudding trowells.

1855 H. Clarke New Dict. Eng. Lang. Fish-trowel.

c. A tool of this kind used in gardening, having a hollow, scoop-like, semi-cylindrical blade.

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > equipment and buildings > [noun] > gardening tool > trowel

scoop1706

trowel1796

1796 C. Marshall Introd. Knowl. & Pract. Gardening v. 85 The earth should be moved aside by a trowel.

1846 J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) II. 119 The compound is firmly pressed into the moulds with a gardener's trowel.

1855 ‘E. S. Delamer’ Kitchen Garden 16 The English trowel is excellent for many purposes; but besides it, it will be found convenient to have one or two long, narrow ones.

d. An elastic flat steel instrument used in spreading the paint in the manufacture of oilcloth.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for making other articles > [noun] > oilcloth-making equipment

trowel1845

1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. 4th Ser. v. 128 The workman holds in his right hand a kind of trowel, consisting of a long narrow blade, about a foot in length, decreasing in width towards one end, and having at the other a handle which bends back over the blade. With this trowel..the workman draws the paint over the canvas, smoothing it repeatedly.

?1881 [implied in: Census Eng. & Wales: Instr. Clerks classifying Occupations & Ages (?1885) 80 Floor Cloth, Oil Cloth Manufacture... Oil Skin Maker, Dealer. Silk Oiler. Trowler. (at troweller n. at trowel v. Derivatives)].

e. See quot. 1892.

ΚΠ

1892 W. W. Greener Breech-loader 180 A properly-made trowel will load millions of cartridges before the holes become so worn that it has to be discarded. The author uses this counting trowel in loading all his cartridges.

Compounds

C1. General attributive.

trowel-handling n.

ΚΠ

1887 J. Ruskin Præterita II. x. 362 A piece of trowel-handling as subtle as spreading the mortar under a brick.

trowel-planting n.

ΚΠ

1815 J. Smith Panorama Sci. & Art II. 657 7. Furrow planting... 8. Dibbling... 9. Trowel planting.

trowel-slicer n. (cf. b.)

ΘΚΠ

the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > equipment for food preparation > [noun] > slice

slice1459

egg-slice1747

fish-slice1747

trowel1773

cake slice1813

fish-trowel1855

trowel-slicer1862

palette knife1889

cake server?1891

1862 Catal. Internat. Exhib., Brit. II. No. 6504 A very large bread knife, and trowel slicer.

trowel-shaped adj.

ΚΠ

1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) III. 573 [Cochlearia danica] All the leaves trowel-shaped.

1897 M. Kingsley Trav. W. Afr. 454 Broad, trowel-shaped, almost triangular daggers.

C2.

Categories »

trowel-bayonet n. a bayonet resembling a mason's trowel, which may be used as a light entrenchment tool, or when detached from the rifle, as a hatchet (E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. 1877).

trowel-beak n. a bird, a Sumatran broadbill, Corydon sumatranus ( Cent. Dict. 1891).

trowel-colour n. the mixture laid on with a trowel.

ΚΠ

1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 129 Trowel-painting... This trowel-colour is..laid on the back of the canvas.

trowel-gauge n. an instrument for setting the nippers on a cotton-combing machine.

ΘΚΠ

the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > treating or processing textile materials > treating or processing cotton > [noun] > equipment for carding

squirrel1839

taker-in1850

squirrel card1851

tummer1877

trowel-gauge1902

1902 T. Thornley Cotton Combing Machines 151 In setting the nippers great assistance is rendered by the use of a trowel gauge.

trowel-man n. one who uses a trowel; spec. a mason, bricklayer, or the like; also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > builder > [noun] > builder of walls > bricklayer

brickman1418

brick-masonc1435

bricklayerc1442

bricker1482

troweller1611

trowel-mana1637

red mason1700

bricksetter1811

brickie1847

a1637 B. Jonson Magnetick Lady ii. Chorus 74 in Wks. (1640) III A hard handed, and stiffe ignorance, worthy a Trewel, or a Hammer-man.

1737 E. Hoppus Salmon's Country Builder's Estimator (ed. 2) 69 A Trowel-man and Labourer..can perform one Rod of rough Work in five Days.

1756 Monitor No. 73 II. 203 It has been the general defect of English politicians to proceed without a plan; ignorant trowel-men in the service of the state.

trowel-painting n. the laying on of a mixture of oil and colour with a trowel and stiff brush in the manufacture of floor-cloth and the like.

ΚΠ

1845 G. Dodd Brit. Manuf. IV. 129 Trowel-painting... This trowel-colour is..laid on the back of the canvas.

Derivatives

ˈtrowelful n. as much as can be taken up on a trowel (also figurative).

ΘΚΠ

the world > relative properties > measurement > the scientific measurement of volume > measure(s) of capacity > amount defined by capacity > [noun] > a load as a quantity > amount that fills a spade, shovel, etc.

shovelful1533

trowelful1580

spadeful1650

spitful1842

hoeful1866

shovel1881

1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong at Truellée A trowell full of plaster or morter.

1801 Ld. Minto Let. in Edinb. Rev. Apr. (1896) 405 Cramming Nelson with trowelfuls of flattery.

1843 Ld. Cockburn Circuit Journeys (1888) 184 Not one trowelful of lime.

This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1915; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

trowelv.

Brit.

/ˈtraʊəl/,

/traʊl/, U.S.

/ˈtraʊ(ə)l/

Etymology: < trowel n.

1. transitive. To spread, smooth, or dress (a surface) with or as with a trowel; to form or mould with a trowel; in quot. c1670, to coat thickly with.

ΘΚΠ

society > occupation and work > industry > building or constructing > surfacing or cladding > clad or cover [verb (transitive)] > spread with trowel

trowelc1670

c1670 Earl of Orrery in Daily Chron. 12 June (1903) 3/3 The Women are never old, for the Wrinkles are well filled up by Paint,..the Women trowel themselves with red.

1700 Moxon's Mech. Exercises: Bricklayers-wks. 12 They finish the Plastering..either by Trowelling and brishing it over with fair Water, or else by laying a thin Coat of fine Stuff..and..Trowelling and brishing it.

1774 O. Goldsmith Hist. Earth VIII. 99 They [sc. wasps] stick their load of paste on that part where they make their walls and partitions; they tread it close with their feet, and trowel it with their trunks.

1842 Civil Engineer & Architect's Jrnl. 5 337/2 After being properly trowelled, it is jointed to imitate stone.

2. To put, place, or move (something) with or as with a trowel; to lay on with a trowel, i.e. thickly or clumsily; often figurative of flattery or laudation.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > approval or sanction > commendation or praise > flattery or flattering > flatter [verb (transitive)] > lay on (flattery) thickly

trowel1772

the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > place or put in a position [verb (transitive)] > clumsily or thickly

trowel1841

1772 T. Nugent tr. J. F. de Isla Hist. Friar Gerund I. 502 The good gentleman trowels on himself the plaister of praise without reserve.

1792 S. T. Coleridge Let. to G. Coleridge in Lett. 24 If ever hog's lard is pleasing it is when our superiors trowel it on.

1841 W. M. Thackeray Men & Pictures 111 The skies are trowelled on; the light-vapouring distances are as thick as plum-pudding.

1898 J. Hollingshead Gaiety Chron. i. 45 Mortar and cement were trowelled into their proper places.

Derivatives

ˈtrowelled adj. ; trowelled stucco, stucco of the best description intended to be painted.

ΚΠ

1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 375 Trowelled-stucco is a very neat kind of work, much used in dining-rooms, vestibules, stair-cases, &c.

1913 Daily News 31 Mar. 6 The roof..has a fall of 5 in. in 13 ft. and was simply left with a trowelled finish.

ˈtrowelling n.

ΚΠ

1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 598 Their Painting is meere steyning or trowelling in respect of ours.

ˈtroweller n. one who uses a trowel.

ΘΚΠ