kapok

American  

[key-pok] / ˈkeɪ pɒk /

noun

1. the silky down that invests the seeds of a silk-cotton tree kapoktree, Ceiba pentandra, of the East Indies, Africa, and tropical America: used for stuffing pillows, life jackets, etc., and for acoustical insulation.

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kapok British  

/ ˈkeɪpɒk /

noun

1. Also called: silk cotton.  a silky fibre obtained from the hairs covering the seeds of a tropical bombacaceous tree, Ceiba pentandra ( kapok tree or silk-cotton tree ): used for stuffing pillows, etc, and for sound insulation

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Etymology

Origin of kapok

1740–50; < Javanese (or Malay of Java and Sumatra) kapuk the name of the tree

Example Sentences

After the flowers of the silk cotton tree were gone, it grew beautiful brown pods that began to burst, showering kapok all over the island and into the lake.

From Literature

A 230-foot kapok tree known as the Cotton Tree, a symbol of freedom at the center of Sierra Leone’s foundation story, was felled in a heavy storm.

From New York Times

The kapok tree stood in the middle of a roundabout in central Freetown near the national museum and the president's office.

From Reuters

As we ventured further into Casamance by dug-out canoe, itself built from a single piece of wood hewn from the roots of a kapok tree, the true value of the project was brought into focus.

From BBC

Often, Dr. Sanz said, interactions occurred after a band of chimps located an exciting meal, such as a fruiting strangler fig or kapok.

From New York Times