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teasel

teasel

1 9.9
A tall prickly plant with spiny flower heads used to brush wool
  • noun
  • /ˈtiːzəl/
: cardo
  • Farmers sometimes grow teasels because they were historically used in textile processing to raise the nap of the fabric.
  • teasel (genus Dipsacus)

Examples

  • " Eleyna! The boy is getting in a teasel!" Eleyna bustled into the middle room, thrusting the flask and a food pack into Hwyllum's hand.

    Fiction book (1993)
  • Single- and double-headed implements are used, and today metal versions are taking the place of the teasel head, particularly on the less expensive models of chechia (Fig. 10).

    Academic text (2004)
  • The teasels sprang up, and with them, the chechia industry was born.

    Academic text (2004)
  • This well-written article is actually about photographing plants called teasels, but you get the point.

    Academic text (1993)
  • "With that, she led him to her spinning chamber, bade him to take up wool and distaff, teasel and spindle, and to sit at her wheel and spin thread.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • She turned back to the walls—a blown sheep on moorland, a huge black bull staring furiously out of the canvas, a fragile bunch of teasels.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • The teasel is known for its tall, prickly stems and unique flower heads that attract various insects.

  • In the countryside, patches of teasels stand out with their spiky bracts and vibrant flowers.

Synonyms

Dipsacus
vsteasel
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A tall prickly wild plant with spiky flower heads

is the common name used for individual plants not the taxonomic term
Dipsacus fullonum
vsteasel
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A tall plant with lilac spiky flower heads used to brush wool cloth

is the general label covering many species including that one
teazel
vsteasel
  • UK
9.9

A prickly wild plant with round flower heads used in dried flower arrangements

is the common name rather than that alternate spelling
teasle
vsteasel
  • UK
9.9

A tall wild plant with spiny flower heads once used to make cloth soft

is the standard modern form instead of the older spelling
Dipsacus sativus
vsteasel
  • Specialized
9.9

A prickly plant with spiny flower heads once used to roughen wool cloth

is the general plant name, not limited to that single species
fuller's teasel
vsteasel
  • Specialized
9.9

A tall prickly plant with cone-shaped flower heads once used to brush wool cloth to make it soft

is the wider plant term, not only the cultivated cloth variety
common teasel
vsteasel
  • UK
8.8

A prickly plant with lilac flowers and spiky dried heads used by weavers to finish wool cloth

is the broader name for this plant group rather than this species
Dipsacus sylvestris
vsteasel
  • Specialized
9.9

A tall wild plant with prickly seed heads and pink or white flowers

is the general term for the plant family rather than that species
wild teasel
vsteasel
  • UK
8.8

A tall prickly plant with cone-shaped flower heads often dried for decoration

is the common group name covering all species, not this named form

Compounds

8.8

A prickly plant with lilac flowers and spiky dried heads used by weavers to finish wool cloth

fuller's teasel
  • Specialized
9.9

A tall prickly plant with cone-shaped flower heads once used to brush wool cloth to make it soft

8.8

A tall prickly plant with cone-shaped flower heads often dried for decoration

Surface Forms

teasel singular
teasels plural

Etymology

The word teasel comes from the plant's use in cloth-making: its dried, spiky heads were used to 'tease' or 'lift' the soft wool fibers, so think of teasel as the plant that 'teased' cloth.