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

On a Friday at the community cotton gin, farmers and retired farmers gathered for their weekly coffee and doughnut meet-up, which also includes the Baptist pastor and the school superintendent, Bric Turner.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2023

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

The cotton gin meant bigger cotton yields and the iron tools to harvest it, iron horseshoes for the horses tugging the wagons with iron rims and parts that took it to market.

From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead