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tree cotton

tree cotton

7.5
A small tree or bush that people grow for pretty flowers and soft fibers
  • noun
translation icon : algodón arbóreo
  • The tree cotton in the garden bloomed with striking purple flowers in the summer.

Examples

  • Gardeners often choose tree cotton for its attractive and vibrant blossoms.

  • Botanists are studying the cultivation methods of tree cotton in different climates.

  • The tree cotton blooms beautifully in the spring.

  • Many gardeners love tree cottons for their vibrant colors.

  • Gardeners often choose tree cotton for its attractive and vibrant blossoms.

  • The tree cotton in the garden bloomed with striking purple flowers in the summer.

  • The tree cotton blooms beautifully in the spring.

Synonyms

cotton
vstree cotton
126 1.0

A bushy plant with white fluffy seed pods grown for soft fibers used to make cloth

is cultivated for decorative blooms as well as fiber production
cotton plant
vstree cotton
1 2.1

A bushy plant that produces white round pods with soft fibers used for cloth

is grown especially for ornamental flowers and for producing soft fibers
Gossypium arboreum
vstree cotton
  • Specialized
9.9

A cotton plant from South Asia with pale yellow to purple flowers grown for its cotton and beauty

is more about garden use and fiber harvest than wild growth
Gossypium barbadense
vstree cotton
  • Specialized
9.9

A cotton plant with very long soft fibers used to make luxury cloth

is cultivated for ornamental blooms as well as fiber production
sea island cotton
vstree cotton
  • Specialized
5.7

A cotton plant that makes very long, soft fibers grown on coastal islands

is chosen more for showy flowers and general fiber use
wild cotton
vstree cotton
  • US
6.9

A wild bush with white soft fibers around its seeds used to make cloth

is mostly cultivated rather than occurring naturally in natural habitats

Surface Forms

tree cotton singular
tree cottons plural

Morphology

tree + cotton

The meaning (‘a shrub or small tree grown for its ornamental flowers or for producing cotton fibers’) is directly compositional from 'tree' and 'cotton' — it denotes a tree associated with cotton. This is a literal, non-idiomatic noun–noun combination that a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reasonably infer.

Etymology

Tree cotton is a simple name from the plant itself: it is a small tree or shrub that makes cotton-like fibers and has pretty flowers. So the name joins tree and cotton to mean a small tree grown for its blooms and for 'producing cotton fibers'.