- Cotton wool
- Cotton Cot"ton (k[o^]t"t'n), n. [F. coton, Sp. algodon the
cotton plant and its wool, coton printed cotton, cloth, fr.
Ar. qutun, alqutun, cotton wool. Cf. {Acton}, {Hacqueton}.]
1. A soft, downy substance, resembling fine wool, consisting
of the unicellular twisted hairs which grow on the seeds
of the cotton plant. Long-staple cotton has a fiber
sometimes almost two inches long; short-staple, from two
thirds of an inch to an inch and a half.
[1913 Webster]
2. The cotton plant. See {Cotten plant}, below. [1913 Webster]
3. Cloth made of cotton. [1913 Webster]
Note: Cotton is used as an adjective before many nouns in a sense which commonly needs no explanation; as, cotton bagging; cotton cloth; cotton goods; cotton industry; cotton mill; cotton spinning; cotton tick. [1913 Webster]
{Cotton cambric}. See {Cambric}, n., 2.
{Cotton flannel}, the manufactures' name for a heavy cotton fabric, twilled, and with a long plush nap. In England it is called {swan's-down cotton}, or {Canton flannel}.
{Cotton gin}, a machine to separate the seeds from cotton, invented by Eli Whitney.
{Cotton grass} (Bot.), a genus of plants ({Eriphorum}) of the Sedge family, having delicate capillary bristles surrounding the fruit (seedlike achenia), which elongate at maturity and resemble tufts of cotton.
{Cotton mouse} (Zool.), a field mouse ({Hesperomys gossypinus}), injurious to cotton crops.
{Cotton plant} (Bot.), a plant of the genus {Gossypium}, of several species, all growing in warm climates, and bearing the cotton of commerce. The common species, originally Asiatic, is {Gossypium herbaceum}.
{Cotton press}, a building and machinery in which cotton bales are compressed into smaller bulk for shipment; a press for baling cotton.
{Cotton rose} (Bot.), a genus of composite herbs ({Filago}), covered with a white substance resembling cotton.
{Cotton scale} (Zo["o]l.), a species of bark louse ({Pulvinaria innumerabilis}), which does great damage to the cotton plant.
{Cotton shrub}. Same as Cotton plant.
{Cotton stainer} (Zo["o]l.), a species of hemipterous insect ({Dysdercus suturellus}), which seriously damages growing cotton by staining it; -- called also {redbug}.
{Cotton thistle} (Bot.), the Scotch thistle. See under {Thistle}.
{Cotton velvet}, velvet in which the warp and woof are both of cotton, and the pile is of silk; also, velvet made wholly of cotton.
{Cotton waste}, the refuse of cotton mills.
{Cotton wool}, cotton in its raw or woolly state.
{Cotton worm} (Zool.), a lepidopterous insect ({Aletia argillacea}), which in the larval state does great damage to the cotton plant by eating the leaves. It also feeds on corn, etc., and hence is often called {corn worm}, and {Southern army worm}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
