Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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}) 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}), 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}.
\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]