cotton wool

noun

cotton in its raw state, as on the boll or gathered but unprocessed.

Words nearby cotton wool

cotton thistle, cotton tie, cotton to, cotton top, cotton waste, cotton wool, cotton-fiber embolism, cotton-picking, cotton-wool patches, cottonade, cottonmouth

Origin of cotton wool

First recorded in 1590–1600

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Examples from the Web for cotton wool

When the gold is pressed into the impressions of the tools with the pad of cotton-wool, they should be plainly visible through it.
Bookbinding, and the Care of Books|Douglas Cockerell
A loose plug of cotton-wool in the open mouth completes the capillary pipette.
The Elements of Bacteriological Technique|John William Henry Eyre
Double cyanide gauze, rung out of boric lotion and covered with a good supporting pad of cotton-wool, is then put on.
A System of Operative Surgery, Volume IV (of 4)|Various
Then he loosely stuffed them with cotton-wool, smoothed the feathers, and placed them on a shelf to dry.
The Swan and Her Crew|George Christopher Davies

It looked like a billowy sea of cotton-wool, but the airmen who had just emerged from it, had no comfort in its soft embrace.
Round the World in Seven Days|Herbert Strang

British Dictionary definitions for cotton wool

cotton wool

noun

Also called: purified cotton mainly British bleached and sterilized cotton from which the gross impurities, such as the seeds and waxy matter, have been removed: used for surgical dressings, tampons, etcUsual US term: absorbent cotton

cotton in the natural state

British informal

a state of pampered comfort and protection
(as modifier)a cotton-wool existence

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