cotton wool
1
1.4
- noun
- /ˈkɑtən wʊl/
- UK
:
algodón
- Esther took the cotton wool and started on Pearl's nails.
- wrapped in cotton wool
- box lined with cotton wool
I'm going to use some cotton wool buds to soak up the fuel and keep it in our dish.
- I'm going to use some cotton wool buds to soak up the fuel and keep it in our dish.
- There's the deluxe and the mini, and these are basically like balls of cotton wool.
- So I put my cotton wool in here, I've got my perfume there, my flower bomb and contact lenses.
- You could even use this in your bedroom, I think, and store like your cotton wool pads or you know, nail polishes, anything lipsticks can all go in there.
- And of course, the number one deluxe Kabuki brushed by Ray Morris is like a ball of cotton wool and it can contour, it can sculpt this beautiful brush.
- And it's got cotton wool, as we would say cotton balls or things like that to catch the blood which is is going to be issuing from the prisoner's body.
Examples
-
She comes back into the room, armed with bottles and cotton wool.
Fiction book (1995) -
I dabbed some medicine on with cotton wool to clean the wound.
-
So if you need some good cotton wool, get the baby ones.
-
Every day, she would take them out of their case and clean them with cotton wool and water.
Fiction book (2002) -
I gave her a bottle to take away and some of our cotton wool and one of our spoons.
-
He ripped open the paper to find, nestling inside a tiny cardboard box and wrapped in cotton wool, a little glass nightingale.
Fiction book (2002) -
I concocted a shrine for him—a tiny bed of cotton wool.
Fiction book (1997) -
Every day, she would take them out of their case and clean them with cotton wool and water.
-
When preparing for art class, we used cotton wool to create fluffy clouds on our project.
Synonyms
115
1.0
The soft white material from the plant used to make fabric and thread
1
2.9
Soft, silky threads from the cotton plant used to make cloth
Soft cotton that soaks up liquids for medical or personal care use
How Soft
Surface Forms
Morphology
The compound refers to cotton presented in a soft, wool-like form (cotton + wool), so its meaning is directly derivable from the constituent words: 'cotton' (a natural fibre) and 'wool' (soft, fluffy fibre). This compositional interpretation is straightforward and cross-linguistically plausible, so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
The noun cotton wool comes from how raw cotton is pulled into soft, white clumps that look like sheep's wool. That's why 'cotton wool' means the soft cotton balls people use for cleaning, medical care, or removing makeup.