cotton grass

noun

any rushlike plant constituting the genus Eriophorum, of the sedge family, common in swampy places and bearing spikes resembling tufts of cotton.

Nearby words

cotton bush, cotton cake, cotton candy, cotton flannel, cotton gin, cotton grass, cotton gum, cotton mill, cotton on, cotton picker, cotton press

Origin of cotton grass

First recorded in 1590–1600; so called from its cottonlike heads

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cotton grass

A child presented me with a bunch of cotton-grass, gathered on the moors not far from the Roman-Wall.
Northumberland Yesterday and To-day|Jean F. Terry
The foam rested in flakes on the rushes where it hung and fluttered like tufts of cotton-grass.
In the Roar of the Sea|Sabine Baring-Gould
Many attempts have been made to spin the silky threads of the Cotton-grass which grows abundantly on the Scotch lowlands.
The Romance of Plant Life|G. F. Scott Elliot
The third nest, containing six fresh eggs, was at the edge of a clump of cotton-grass and was exposed from directly above.
Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska|James W. Bee

The cup had an inwardly reflected rim, was made of stems of cotton-grass, and was well insulated with 15 mm of down feathers.
Birds Found on the Arctic Slope of Northern Alaska|James W. Bee

British Dictionary definitions for cotton grass

cotton grass

noun

any of various N temperate and arctic grasslike bog plants of the cyperaceous genus Eriophorum, whose clusters of long silky hairs resemble cotton tuftsAlso called: bog cotton

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

cotton grass

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of cotton grass

Examples from the Web for cotton grass

British Dictionary definitions for cotton grass

cotton grass

noun