[spool] 
| 1. | any cylindrical piece or device on which something is wound. |
| 2. | a small cylindrical piece of wood or other material on which yarn is wound in spinning, for use in weaving; a bobbin. |
| 3. | a small cylinder of wood or other material on which thread, wire, or tape is wound, typically expanded or with a rim at each end and having a hole lengthwise through the center. |
| 4. | the material or quantity of material wound on such a device. |
| 5. | Angling. the cylindrical drum in a reel that bears the line. |
| 6. | to wind on a spool. |
| 7. | to unwind from a spool (usually fol. by off or out). |
| 8. | Computers. to operate (an input/output device) by using buffers in main and secondary storage. |
| 9. | to wind. |
| 10. | to unwind. |
| spool·er (spōō'lər) n. A computer program that sequences print jobs by temporarily storing them in a buffer and sending each to the printer when the printer is able to process it. Also called print spooler. |
spool (sp l) Pronunciation Key
To store data that is sent to a device, such as a printer, in a buffer that the device reads. This procedure allows the program that sent the data to the device to resume its normal operation without waiting for the device to process the data. |
spooler operating system, tool
Software or hardware to which data is spooled and which processes that data (e.g. prints it) in the background.
(1995-03-25)