short-staple cotton

6.5

A kind of cotton with short fibers that people use to make coarse cloth

noun

Specialized

: algodón de fibra corta

Farmers in the American South primarily cultivated short-staple cotton for making rough cloth and tents.

Examples

While infestations only diminished yields of the faster-growing short-staple cotton, eventually the "winged demon" completely wiped out the slower-maturing Sea Island variety.

Academic text (2007)
During the 19th century, short-staple cotton became essential for the booming textile industry in the United States.
Manufacturers often prefer short-staple cotton for low-cost textiles due to its shorter fibers.

Antonyms

long-staple cotton

Specialized

5.1

A type of cotton with long fibers that is soft and strong for high-quality clothes and sheets

How Long

long-staple cotton

Specialized

5.1

short-staple cotton

Specialized

6.5

Surface Forms

short-staple cotton singular

short-staple cottons plural

Morphology

short-staple + cotton

The words 'short' and 'cotton' give a clear cue that the phrase refers to a type of cotton characterized by being 'short' in some respect, but the key word 'staple' has a specialized textile meaning (fiber length) that many B1 learners will not know and which differs from common senses of 'staple'. Because part of the meaning depends on domain-specific knowledge rather than transparent composition, the phrase is only partially predictable from its parts.

Etymology

Short-staple cotton comes from old cloth-maker language: they used staple to mean 'fiber length', so cotton with short fibers was called short-staple. That's why it now means cotton with short fibers that makes coarser, lower-quality cloth.