cotton gin

American  

noun

1. a machine for separating the fibers of cotton from the seeds.

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Etymology

Origin of cotton gin

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cotton gin

We asked readers which U.S. technologies, including the cotton gin, the microchip and even the dishwasher, have mattered most.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 25, 2026

Keeping up with the pace of technology has challenged Congress since the steam engine and the cotton gin transformed the nation’s industrial and agricultural sectors.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 10, 2024

At a cotton gin in the San Joaquin Valley, in California, a boxy machine helps to spray a fine mist containing billions of molecules of DNA onto freshly cleaned Pima cotton.

From New York Times ● Apr. 7, 2023

His father had a dry-goods store and a cotton gin, both of which he lost during the Great Depression, according to a 2010 interview he gave to the Washington Post.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 6, 2023

Sometimes my father would seek advice from Granddaddy about some aspect or other of the farm or the cotton gin.

From "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate" by Jacqueline Kelly