GOOD | BAD | SERIOUS | CRITICAL | NEUTRAL |
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Cotton \Cot"ton\ (k[o^]t"t'n), noun [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.
2. The cotton plant. See {Cotten plant}, below.
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.
{Cotton cambric}. See {Cambric}, noun, 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} (Zool.), a species of bark louse ({Pulvinaria innumerabilis}), which does great damage to the cotton plant.
{Cotton shrub}. Same as Cotton plant.
{Cotton stainer} (Zool.), 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}.
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Cotton \Cot"ton\, verb (used without an object)
1. To rise with a regular nap, as cloth does. [Obs.]
It cottons well; it can not choose but bear A pretty nap. --Family of Love.
2. To go on prosperously; to succeed. [Obs.]
New, Hephestion, does not this matter cotton as I would? --Lyly.
3. To unite; to agree; to make friends; -- usually followed by with. [Colloq.]
A quarrel will end in one of you being turned off, in which case it will not be easy to cotton with another. --Swift.
Didst see, Frank, how the old goldsmith cottoned in with his beggarly companion? --Sir W. Scott.
4. To take a liking to; to stick to one as cotton; -- used with to. [Slang]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
noun
1: soft silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state [syn: {cotton}, {cotton fiber}, {cotton wool}]
2: fabric woven from cotton fibers
3: erect bushy mallow plant or small tree bearing bolls containing seeds with many long hairy fibers [syn: {cotton}, {cotton plant}]
4: thread made of cotton fibers
verb
GOOD | BAD | SERIOUS | CRITICAL | NEUTRAL |
Definitions retrieved from the Open Source DICT Webster's English and WordNet 3.0 dictionaries. Click here for database copyright information.
Define.com is a PRIVATE SECTOR EDUCATIONAL NONPROFIT WEBSITE that PROMOTES WORLDWIDE ELECTRONIC DEMOCRACY, OPEN and TRANSPARENT GOVERNMENT and WORLDWIDE BANKING REFORM.
www.FreeWorldBank.org on Amazon S3
facebook.com/groups/FreeWorldBank
Eye and Pyramid BANKING REFORM CHALLENGE