Meaning
3 senses(transitive)To apply (a substance) with a trowel.
He troweled the coarse mix with a twist, leaving a pattern of arcs.
(transitive)To pass over with a trowel.
(colloquial, figuratively)To apply something heavily or unsubtly.
- use a trowel on; for light garden work or plaster work
Examples
4 sentencesThe smoothing trowel is a tool for plasterers, tilers and masons.
deDie Glättkelle ist ein Werkzeug für Stuckateure, Fliesenleger und Maurer. — al_ex_an_der
I had no shovel, so I made do with a bricklayer's trowel.
Rotten wood cannot be carved; walls of dung cannot be worked with a trowel.
"This is ..." "Working glove and trowel. One of a gardening club's basic tools."
ru«Это...» — «Рабочие рукавицы и совок. Одни из главных инструментов в клубе садоводов». — Hellerick
Translations
2 languagesOrigin
From Middle English trowell, trouel, truel, from Middle French truelle, from Late Latin trFrom Middle English trowell, trouel, truel, from Middle French truelle, from Late Latin truella, from Classical Latin trulla, the diminutive of trua (“ladle”). Doublet of trullo.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
trowels, troweling, troweled, troweledWord family
1 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle