kapok

American  

[key-pok] / ˈkeɪ pɒk /

noun

1. the silky down that invests the seeds of a silk-cotton tree kapoktree, Ceiba pentandra, of the East Indies, Africa, and tropical America: used for stuffing pillows, life jackets, etc., and for acoustical insulation.

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kapok British  

/ ˈkeɪpɒk /

noun

1. Also called: silk cotton.  a silky fibre obtained from the hairs covering the seeds of a tropical bombacaceous tree, Ceiba pentandra ( kapok tree or silk-cotton tree ): used for stuffing pillows, etc, and for sound insulation

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Etymology

Origin of kapok

1740–50; < Javanese (or Malay of Java and Sumatra) kapuk the name of the tree

Example Sentences

A 230-foot kapok tree known as the Cotton Tree, a symbol of freedom at the center of Sierra Leone’s foundation story, was felled in a heavy storm.

From New York Times

The kapok tree stood in the middle of a roundabout in central Freetown near the national museum and the president's office.

From Reuters

As we ventured further into Casamance by dug-out canoe, itself built from a single piece of wood hewn from the roots of a kapok tree, the true value of the project was brought into focus.

From BBC

Often, Dr. Sanz said, interactions occurred after a band of chimps located an exciting meal, such as a fruiting strangler fig or kapok.

From New York Times

The first time I saw a huge samaúma, also called a kapok, was in the Tapajós National Forest in northern Brazil.

From New York Times