Cotton : (noun)
1: silky fibers from cotton plants in their raw state [syn: cotton
wool]
2: fabric woven from cotton fibers [syn: cotton cloth]
3: erect bushy mallow plant or small tree bearing bolls
containing seeds with many long hairy fibers [syn: cotton
plant]
4: thread made of cotton fibers
(verb)
1: take a liking to; "cotton to something"
Based on WordNet 2.0
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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.
2. The cotton plant. See Cotten plant, below.
3. Cloth made of cotton.
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, 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">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 G. 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">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.
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
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Cotton : \Cot"ton\, v. i.
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]
Based on Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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