boll

[ bohl ]

/ boʊl /

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noun Botany.

a rounded seed vessel or pod of a plant, as of flax or cotton.

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Origin of boll

1400–50; late Middle English bolle, perhaps <Middle Dutch bolle (Dutch bol), though formally identical with bowl¹

Other definitions for boll (2 of 2)

Böll

[ bœl ]

/ bœl /

noun

Hein·rich (The·o·dor)

[hahyn-rikh-tey-aw-dohr], /ˈhaɪn rɪx ˈteɪ ɔˌdoʊr/, 1917–85, German novelist and short-story writer: Nobel Prize 1972.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use boll in a sentence

And cotton crops would often fail when pests like the boll weevil tore through the fields.
Growth Stocks|The Daily Beast|October 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
See cotton growing, and pick a cotton boll, called "Texas Roses."
The Sunbridge Girls at Six Star Ranch|Eleanor H. (Eleanor Hodgman) Porter
Swallows in the Southern states kill the cotton-boll weevil, one of our worst insect pests.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
The beetle lays its eggs in the young cotton fruit or boll, and the larv feed upon the substance within the boll.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter

The one beetle doing by far the greatest harm in this country is the cotton-boll weevil.
A Civic Biology|George William Hunter
She builds mostly among the branches of the Scotch fir, the nest being generally close to the boll or stem.
Birds' Nests, Eggs and Egg-Collecting|Richard Kearton

British Dictionary definitions for boll (1 of 2)

boll

/ (bəʊl) /

noun

the fruit of such plants as flax and cotton, consisting of a rounded capsule containing the seeds

Word Origin for boll

C13: from Dutch bolle; related to Old English bolla bowl 1

British Dictionary definitions for boll (2 of 2)

Böll

/ (German bœl) /

noun

Heinrich (ˈhaɪnrɪç) (Theodor). 1917–85, German novelist and short-story writer; his novels include Group Portrait with Lady (1971): Nobel prize for literature 1972

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for boll

boll

[ bōl ]

The seed-bearing capsule of certain plants, especially cotton and flax.