Spool

  1. Short for Simultaneous Peripheral Operations On-Line, Spool is often used to describe a task such as a print job. See the print spool definition for further information.
  2. Spool was also a large reel of 1/2-inch-wide magnetic tape used with old mainframe computers.
  3. Alternatively referred to as a mail spool the spool is a temporary location or the name of the directory some e-mail service use to store e-mail until the client logs in to retrieve it.
  4. Alternatively referred to as a news spool the spool is a temporary location to store Usenet articles.
  5. See the spooling dictionary definition for other related terms.

Also see: Print spooler, Spool folder, Spooler, Spooling