cocoon

American  

[kuh-koon] / kəˈkun /

noun

• cocoons
  plural

1. the silky envelope spun by the larvae of many kinds of insects, as silkworms, serving as a covering for the insect during its stage as a pupa.

2. any of various similar protective coverings in nature, as the silky case in which certain spiders enclose their eggs.

3. a protective covering, usually consisting of polyvinyl chloride, sprayed over machinery, large guns on board ships, etc., to provide an airtight seal and prevent rust during long periods of storage.

4. any encompassingly protective or hermetic wrapping or enclosure resembling a cocoon.

   a cocoon of gauze.

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verb (used without object)

• cocoons,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cocooned,
  past participle,  past
• cocooning
  present participle

1. to produce a cocoon.

2. to spend time at home rather than going out to socialize, especially when enjoying comforting, quiet leisure activities or entertainment.

   After a certain age you realize you’d rather skip the club and just cocoon with the hubby, watching a movie on the sofa.

verb (used with object)

• cocoons,
  present (3rd person singular)
• cocooned,
  past participle,  past
• cocooning
  present participle

1. to wrap or enclose tightly, as if in a cocoon.

   The doctor cocooned the patient in blankets.

2. to provide (machinery, guns, etc.) with a protective, airtight covering by spraying with polyvinyl chloride or the like.

3. to envelop or surround protectively; insulate.

   a political leader cocooned by his staff and his bodyguards.

cocoon British  

/ kəˈkuːn /

noun

1. 1. a silky protective envelope secreted by silkworms and certain other insect larvae, in which the pupae develop

   2. a similar covering for the eggs of the spider, earthworm, etc

2. a protective spray covering used as a seal on machinery

3. a cosy warm covering

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verb

1. (tr) to wrap in a cocoon

cocoon Scientific  

/ kə-ko̅o̅n′ /

1. A case or covering of silky strands spun by an insect larva and inhabited for protection during its pupal stage.

2. A similar protective structure, such as the egg cases made by spiders or earthworms.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• cocoonlike
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• cocoons
  plural

Participles

• cocooning
  present
• cocooned
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cocoon
  simple
• cocoons
  simple
• have cocooned
  perfect
• has cocooned
  perfect
• am cocooning
  progressive
• are cocooning
  progressive
• is cocooning
  progressive
• have been cocooning
  perfect progressive
• has been cocooning
  perfect progressive

Past

• cocooned
  simple
• had cocooned
  perfect
• was cocooning
  progressive
• were cocooning
  progressive
• had been cocooning
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cocoon
  simple
• will have cocooned
  perfect
• will be cocooning
  progressive
• will have been cocooning
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cocoon

First recorded in 1690–1700; from French cocon, from Provençal coucoun “eggshell,” equivalent to coco “shell” (from Latin coccum; see cochineal) + French -on diminutive suffix

Explanation

A cocoon is a silky web spun around the larvae of many insects. Caterpillars emerge from their cocoons as beautiful butterflies. The word cocoon can also refer to a form of self-protection for humans. For some people, their house is a cocoon, a cozy retreat from which they can escape the world. They cocoon themselves away for a whole weekend, reading, watching TV, and not answering email or the phone. Another word for cocoon is chrysalis, but only in the context of insects.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cocoon cocoons cocooned cocooning

The performances bear that out, from Benton and Bing’s steady inner light to Compère’s coiled, watchful Tosha, a compelling portrait of skepticism inside this cocoon of warmth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026

The simulations suggested that the red source could contain an extremely powerful energy source hidden inside a very dense cocoon of hydrogen.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 13, 2026

The company lays the deceased in a coffin-like container it calls a cocoon.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

Then in Spring, each forms a cocoon before emerging as an adult butterfly to lay its own eggs.

From BBC ● Nov. 30, 2025

The warmth of his body envelops me like a cocoon.

From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir

It involves feeding mulberry leaves to silkworms, harvesting their cocoons and extracting the silk fibres.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026

At the time, he and his colleagues found wasp cocoons mixed in with fossil material.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 3, 2026

Or the part where we emerge from our cocoons and ask each other, in mock-amazement, whether this is really who we are.

From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2026

Haney said his proposal not only would allow small business owners to diversify their income stream, but also would encourage people to come out of their post-pandemic cocoons and socialize again.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2024

At thirty-six weeks she cocoons herself in bedsheets.

From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides

I’m lying on a heated massage bed, cocooned in a soft, weighted blanket, as Kayla Faraji caresses my cheeks with billowy, pink goose feathers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2026

The smell of fields being burned in preparation for the next crop cycle filtered in and I’d lie cocooned in itchy blankets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025

But car bloat’s most obvious and urgent downside may be the danger it presents to anyone on the street who isn’t cocooned inside a gigantic vehicle.

From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2024

The chip, cocooned within a vacuum chamber and cooled nearly to absolute zero, is patterned with 198 gold electrodes, arranged like an oval racetrack.

From Science Magazine ● May 30, 2024

That first night in the apartment, Fadi lay on the living room floor, cocooned in a bedroll made up of old blankets from the Salvation Army.

From "Shooting Kabul" by N. H. Senzai

In the cocooning fluidity of an ocean-borne day, rendered with thick-brushed painterliness and splashes of sound, we travel across flashes of community, injustice, achievement, love and despair.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2026

Something that understood the rhythm of a slow morning, thick socks, a fogged-up kitchen, the whole mood of wintertime cocooning.

From Salon ● Dec. 16, 2025

The idea that cocooning may be harmful is completely new information to most patients Gormally meets.

From Slate ● Mar. 17, 2024

He also suggested government advisers were too quick to dismiss policies which, he argued, would have better protected the elderly and vulnerable by "cocooning" carers and other family members with whom they might have contact.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2023

I think about the dense woods cocooning the property, with the meandering, secret paths we made ourselves with wheelbarrows full of mulch.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

Related Words

• swaddle
• swathe