tassel
Americannoun
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tassels
plural
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a pendent ornament consisting commonly of a bunch of threads, small cords, or other strands hanging from a roundish knob or head, used on clothing, in jewelry, on curtains, etc.
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something resembling this, as the inflorescence of certain plants, especially that at the summit of a stalk of corn.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish or adorn with tassels.
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to form into a tassel or tassels.
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to remove the tassel from (growing corn) in order to improve the crop.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a tuft of loose threads secured by a knot or ornamental knob, used to decorate soft furnishings, clothes, etc
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anything resembling this tuft, esp the tuft of stamens at the tip of a maize inflorescence
verb
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(tr) to adorn with a tassel or tassels
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(intr) (of maize) to produce stamens in a tuft
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(tr) to remove the tassels from
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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tasselernoun
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detasselverb (used with object)
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tassellyadjective
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untasseledadjective
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untasselledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tassel
1250–1300; Middle English (noun) < Old French tas ( s ) el fastening for cloak < Vulgar Latin *tassellus, blend of Latin tessella (diminutive of tessera die for gaming) and taxillus (diminutive of tālus die for gaming). See tessellate, talus 1
Explanation
A tassel is an ornament or decoration that's made of threads. Tassels are used to decorate curtains, pillows, and clothing. A graduation cap (or mortarboard) often has a cord with a tassel attached to the top with a cord—in the U.S. it's traditional for a student to move the tassel from one side to the other at the end of the graduation ceremony. You'll also see tassels along the edges of fancy drapery and other soft furnishings. Tassels in various parts of the ancient Arab world were considered good luck, said to protect children from evil spirits.
Vocabulary lists containing tassel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Those still open tend to have generators, menus priced in dollars and a clientele of well-connected Cubans, decked in salmon shirts and tassel loafers.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
The traditional velvet cap features embroidered initials, button and tassel and a hand-embroidered clementine in honour of his wife Clementine.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
A few tables away, Alexandra Derderian, a video editor wearing the same rainbow tassel earrings as her plush giraffe puppet, was chatting with Michael Esparza and his bright orange Muppet-like counterpart, Melvin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2024
A smaller tassel allows more light to reach the leaves.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 25, 2023
Her sister’s graduation tassel hangs from the rearview mirror.
From "Every Day" by David Levithan
They are easily identified as Jewish settlers by the white tassels dangling from their hips, a religious garment worn by Orthodox men.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 6, 2026
A penny loafer with subtle studs and detachable tassels?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2025
A woman dances in the spotlight, the glittering tassels on her dress shivering and swaying in tandem with her moves.
From BBC ● Dec. 26, 2024
And she does accessorize in other areas of her life, too, she said, pointing to various tassels she has for her Bogg Bag.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2024
There are a couple of rolled pillows with tassels at the head of the bed.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
The set replicates the characteristics of the actual room in Albany, down to two heavily tasseled flags — one American, one New York state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
Jay Kay arrived to a scream of recognition from older members of the audience, suited up in a tasseled white cowboy jacket and pink jeans.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
Tobias Rahim, a 6-foot-7 Kurdish Danish pop singer, strode around the vast stage of Copenhagen’s Royal Arena one recent Saturday night dressed in a tasseled gold cowboy outfit.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
In a New York City row house, Jesse Parris-Lamb placed thick, tasseled floor cushions near the fireplace.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2022
One depended instead on a pair of tasseled wall lights shaded by a quarter circle of fake parchment.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
There are reports were corn in southern Illinois is only 2 to 3 feet tall and tasseling, he said.
From Reuters ● Jun. 28, 2012
Barring disaster, his 42 acres of tall tasseling corn will be worth at least $2,500 in October.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some corn is tasseling weeks ahead of schedule, and an early harvest is in prospect.
From Time Magazine Archive
The harsh weather arrived just as the corn was entering its crucial tasseling stage and kernels were starting to form.
From Time Magazine Archive
The early grain fields have already caught the color of the sun, and the tasseling corn rustles its broad leaves above the rich loam that the woodcock delights to bore.
From In New England Fields and Woods by Rowland E. (Evans) Robinson
A tasselled blue Texan-style ensemble -- complete with a cowboy hat for the robot -- and a retro silver puffer jacket were among the looks showcased at the event on Thursday.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
Wearing a long tasselled silver shirt and matching trousers, he shimmered as he charged around the stage, joined by a troupe of dancers on a rotating platform.
From BBC ● Feb. 6, 2023
Frocks were pleated, tasselled, sequined, off-the-shoulder or strapless.
From Reuters ● Sep. 8, 2021
In the final drawing, we see the family, now gray-haired, staring at or away from this mysterious being as, still in its Keds, it sits on an elaborately tasselled ottoman, gazing straight ahead.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 3, 2018
There was a visiting cardinal in the glorious tasselled hat which still adorns the notepaper of Wolsey’s College at Oxford.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
The tall, tasselling corn now flows free in rippling, murmuring, ever widening silvery seas.
From Oldfield A Kentucky Tale of the Last Century by Nancy Huston Banks
We know when the first violets are blowing in the woods, and we paint for ourselves the tasselling of the alder and the red of maple-buds.
From Meadow Grass Tales of New England Life by Alice Brown
Vines bending with enormous clusters of grapes festoon themselves from tree to tree, tasselling the topmost branches with fruit and tendrils.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science October, 1877. Vol XX - No. 118 by Various
Still at a gallop we left these behind and entered a broad lane between fields of tasselling corn, where we saw a gallant sight.
From The Cavalier by George Washington Cable
Cynthia stood by the open window, where the sweet summer wind went by, laden with the fragrance of newly cut grasses and the silk of the corn that was just tasselling out.
From A Little Girl in Old Salem by Amanda Minnie Douglas
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
