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.
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2. The cotton plant. See {Cotten plant}, below.
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3. Cloth made of cotton.
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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.
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{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 {swans-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}.
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