What is "spool"

Spool \Spool\ (sp[=oo]l), n. [OE. spole, OD. spoele, D. spoel; akin to G. spule, OHG. spuola, Dan. & Sw. spole.] A piece of cane or reed with a knot at each end, or a hollow cylinder of wood with a ridge at each end, used to wind thread or yarn upon.

Spool stand, an article holding spools of thread, turning on pins, -- used by women at their work.

Spool \Spool\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Spooled (sp[=oo]ld); p. pr. & vb. n. Spooling.] To wind on a spool or spools.

early 14c., "wheel for winding thread upon," from Old North French spole, espole "a spool" (13c.), from Middle Dutch spoele "a spool," from Proto-Germanic *spolon (cognates: Norwegian and Swedish spole, Old High German spuola, German Spule "a spool, bobbin"), from PIE root *spel- "to cleave, split" (see spoil (v.)).

c.1600, from spool (n.). Related: Spooled; spooling; spooler (1550s).

Etymology 1 n. 1 A device around which thread, wire or cable is wound, especially a cylinder or spindle. 2 (context computing English) A temporary storage area for electronic mail, etc. vb. 1 To wind on a spool or spools. 2 (context computing English) 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). Etymology 2

n. A small swimming pool that can be used also as a sp

1. n. a winder around which thread or tape or film or other flexible materials can be wound [syn: bobbin, reel]

2. v. transfer data intended for a peripheral device (usually a printer) into temporary storage

3. wind onto a spool or a reel

Spool may refer to:

• Spool, a usually low-flanged or unflanged cylinder on which thread, wire, cable, paper, film, straps, or tape is wound for distribution or use.
  • Bobbin, a cylinder or reel on which a quantity of thread, yarn or wire is wound for use in a particular machine or device
  • Cable reel used to carry various types of electrical wires
• Spool (software company), a software company that allows users to save video and text onto their mobile devices to view the content offline
• Spooling, Simultaneous Peripheral Operations On-line, transferring data between media concurrently with other work, in computing
• "Spool" can refer to the unit of rotating components inside of a jet engine, so-named because the rotating shaft with compressor and turbine blades on each end resembles an empty thread spool. Turbofans can have up to three spools, with the shafts of the outer spools rotating within the hollow shaft of the innermost spool.
• Spooling up, increasing RPM's and thrust in a jet engine after the throttle has been advanced
• Spool (record label), active from 1998–2008

Spool was a recording label from 1998–2008 started by Vern Weber and Daniel Kernohan. During its life it put out 41 CDs primarily of improvised music, but also electro-acoustic music, experimental & new composition and avant-rock. The label divided its releases into 4 series, LINE, FIELD, POINT, and ARC. Roughly, LINE was the improviser series, POINT, the composer series, FIELD, electro-acoustic series and ARC, the avant-rock series.

In December 2001, Mark Miller writing in The Globe & Mail said talking about the state of Jazz: "It's work supported not by the majors, but by smaller companies, as small as the Uxbridge, Ont., label Spool, which released two of the most interesting Canadian CDs of 2001, West Coast guitarist Tony Wilson's melancholic Lowest Note and a boisterous collaboration between trombonist/composer George Lewis and Vancouver's NOW Orchestra, The Shadowgraph Series." Spool was profiled in Coda magazine by Greg Buium. Spool releases received reviews by Mark Miller (Globe & Mail), Geoff Chapman (The Toronto Star) and in several magazines such as Down Beat, Cadence, Signal to Noise, Exclaim, Georgia Straight, The Province, The Wire, ImproJazz (France), JazzLive (Germany. The label was nominated twice by the National Jazz Awards of Canada.

The label featured such prominent jazz artists as Dewey Redman, Anthony Braxton, Paul Rutherford (trombone player), George Lewis (trombonist), Mats Gustafsson & Ken Vandermark. A particular feature of the label was the documentation of the Vancouver scene covering then up & coming musicians and veterans alike including: Paul Plimley, François Houle, Peggy Lee, Dylan van der Schyff, Tony Wilson, & NOW Orchestra. Toronto and Montreal scene were also covered with artists such as François Carrier, Lori Freedman, Marilyn Lerner, Brett Larner, Sarah Peebles, Gayle Young, Allison Cameron, John Oswald & AIMToronto Orchestra. European performers of note were Fred Frith, John Butcher, Joelle Leandre, Michael Moore, & Tobias Delius.

Spool was a free social bookmarking program and social network that was launched in October 2011 at TechCrunch Disrupt. The service allowed users to cache a webpage, including any media on the page, for offline consumption on any mobile device. Spool raised over $1 million from angel investors in January 2012. Facebook acquired Spool in July 2012, in what was rumored to be a very competitive process.