cotton gin

noun

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of cotton gin¹

An Americanism dating back to 1790–1800

Example Sentences

This rise in activity in Southern areas was largely due to the invention of the cotton gin, which shifted the focus of production from tobacco to cotton.

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“Any time a cotton gin burned down in the South, they pointed to the Wide Awakes and other more radical antislavery Northerners and said, ‘This is arson.’”

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In addition to farming 3,100 acres, the family soon operated a seed and fertilizer business, warehouses, a peanut-shelling plant and a cotton gin.

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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.

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A foreman, he ran the Hermitage cotton gin—an important position on the farm, where cotton was a cash crop.

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