crewel

C3R1E1W4E1L1
/ˈkɹuː.əl//ˈkɹuːl/

noun

Worsted yarn, slackly twisted, used for embroidery.

UncommonScrabble 11
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Meanings

nouncrewel (countable and uncountable, plural crewels)

plural crewels · alternative cruel

  1. countableuncountableWorsted yarn, slackly twisted, used for embroidery.

    First for a May-fly: you may make his body with greenish colored crewel or willowish color

    1653, Iz[aak] Wa[lton], The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation. Being a Discourse of Fish and Fishing, […], London: […] T. Maxey for Rich[ard] Marriot, […], →OCLC; reprinted as The Compleat Angler (Homo Ludens; 6), Nieuwkoop, South Holland, Netherlands: Miland Publishers, 1969, →ISBN
verbcrewel (third-person singular simple present crewels, present participle (US) creweling or (UK) crewelling, simple past and past participle (US) creweled or (UK) crewelled)

present singular third person crewels · US participle present creweling · UK participle present crewelling · US participle past creweled · US past creweled · UK participle past crewelled · UK past crewelled · alternative cruel

  1. transitiveTo make (embroidery) using the crewel method.

Origin

Of unknown origin; earlier forms include crule, crewle, and croole.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Hungarian hímzőfonal
  • hímzőfonalworsted yarn, slackly twisted, used for embroidery

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with crewel

schoolrulecoolpoolfueldualjewelboolcruelstoolPoolemuleduelemulespoolKabulThuledroolyuletulleEwelljoulebuhlshul
All rhymes →

Sounds the same

cruelcruel

Anagrams

Clewer
Cite this entry
APA

crewel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crewel

MLA

“crewel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crewel. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crewel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crewel.

Source: crewel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.