Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

cotton ball

American  
[kot-n bawl] / ˈkɒt n ˌbɔl /

noun

  • cotton balls
    plural
  1. a small ball of absorbent cotton.

    The vet showed me how to clean Poco’s ears with a cotton ball soaked in this solution.


Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of cotton ball

First recorded in 1750–55


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:

I don rubber gloves and soak a cotton ball with it, then rub it in for about two minutes.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 14, 2024

The cleverest hack is to simply soak a cotton ball in your favorite essential oil, drop it in the bottom of your trash can under the liner, and voila!

From Salon ● Jun. 22, 2022

The material in the connective tissue gives it a loose consistency similar to a cotton ball that has been pulled apart.

From Textbooks ● Jun. 9, 2022

Her well-coiffed white hair was as puffy as a cotton ball.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2020

I take the cotton ball away from my arm.

From "Allegiant" by Veronica Roth

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

Get a word

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training