tassel
Americannoun
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a pendent ornament consisting commonly of a bunch of threads, small cords, or other strands hanging from a roundish knob or head, used on clothing, in jewelry, on curtains, etc.
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something resembling this, as the inflorescence of certain plants, especially that at the summit of a stalk of corn.
verb (used with object)
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to furnish or adorn with tassels.
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to form into a tassel or tassels.
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to remove the tassel from (growing corn) in order to improve the crop.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a tuft of loose threads secured by a knot or ornamental knob, used to decorate soft furnishings, clothes, etc
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anything resembling this tuft, esp the tuft of stamens at the tip of a maize inflorescence
verb
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(tr) to adorn with a tassel or tassels
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(intr) (of maize) to produce stamens in a tuft
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(tr) to remove the tassels from
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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tasselernoun
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detasselverb (used with object)
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tassellyadjective
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untasseledadjective
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untasselledadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tassel
1250–1300; Middle English (noun) < Old French tas ( s ) el fastening for cloak < Vulgar Latin *tassellus, blend of Latin tessella (diminutive of tessera die for gaming) and taxillus (diminutive of tālus die for gaming). See tessellate, talus 1
Explanation
A tassel is an ornament or decoration that's made of threads. Tassels are used to decorate curtains, pillows, and clothing. A graduation cap (or mortarboard) often has a cord with a tassel attached to the top with a cord—in the U.S. it's traditional for a student to move the tassel from one side to the other at the end of the graduation ceremony. You'll also see tassels along the edges of fancy drapery and other soft furnishings. Tassels in various parts of the ancient Arab world were considered good luck, said to protect children from evil spirits.
Vocabulary lists containing tassel
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The traditional velvet cap features embroidered initials, button and tassel and a hand-embroidered clementine in honour of his wife Clementine.
From BBC ● Mar. 26, 2024
A smaller tassel allows more light to reach the leaves.
From Science Magazine ● Oct. 25, 2023
Most still possess upward of 90 fingerlike tentacles, which stick out of the creature’s bell-shaped body like the strings at the end of a tassel rug.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2023
“There is one final tradition and that is to move the tassel – not yet, not yet, not yet – from the right to the left,” Nelsen instructed to laughter from the audience and graduates.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 28, 2023
He flicked at flies with the official staff of his office—some sort of stiffened animal tail that ends in a silky white tassel.
From "The Poisonwood Bible" by Barbara Kingsolver
In keeping with the tradition of Yuletide pullovers, Yiayia knits a bright-red Christmas sweater adorned with tassels and bells for her grandson’s dog.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 4, 2025
Beyoncé's rodeo rumbled into London, bringing with it every country cliché you could think of - cowboy hats, horseshoes, tassels and even a gold mechanical bull.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2025
A penny loafer with subtle studs and detachable tassels?
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 3, 2025
And she does accessorize in other areas of her life, too, she said, pointing to various tassels she has for her Bogg Bag.
From Slate ● Jul. 29, 2024
It was improper to wear the tassels hanging out when in the presence of the dead.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
Clover’s long, tasseled ears collect leaves, grass, and assorted debris on walks, and she scratches them out semiregularly.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2026
Jay Kay arrived to a scream of recognition from older members of the audience, suited up in a tasseled white cowboy jacket and pink jeans.
From BBC ● Jun. 20, 2025
With their tasseled ears, pointed mutton chops and jacked-up hind quarters, they look like creatures from a Dr. Seuss book.
From Seattle Times ● May 12, 2023
Tobias Rahim, a 6-foot-7 Kurdish Danish pop singer, strode around the vast stage of Copenhagen’s Royal Arena one recent Saturday night dressed in a tasseled gold cowboy outfit.
From New York Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
She turned to look at John, who was grimly destroying the square, tasseled doilies that decorated Florence’s easy chair.
From "Go Tell It on the Mountain" by James Baldwin
There are reports were corn in southern Illinois is only 2 to 3 feet tall and tasseling, he said.
From Reuters ● Jun. 28, 2012
The harsh weather arrived just as the corn was entering its crucial tasseling stage and kernels were starting to form.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some corn is tasseling weeks ahead of schedule, and an early harvest is in prospect.
From Time Magazine Archive
Barring disaster, his 42 acres of tall tasseling corn will be worth at least $2,500 in October.
From Time Magazine Archive
I am to be married in the time of tasseling corn.
From The Arrow-Maker A Drama in Three Acts by Austin, Mary Hunter
A tasselled blue Texan-style ensemble -- complete with a cowboy hat for the robot -- and a retro silver puffer jacket were among the looks showcased at the event on Thursday.
From Barron's ● May 29, 2026
There were also velvet suits, unbuttoned silky shirts and tasselled dresses and skirts.
From Reuters ● Sep. 22, 2023
The result, its creators say, is a queer celebration - a bold, colourful, and tasselled homage to lycra.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2023
In the final drawing, we see the family, now gray-haired, staring at or away from this mysterious being as, still in its Keds, it sits on an elaborately tasselled ottoman, gazing straight ahead.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 3, 2018
There was a visiting cardinal in the glorious tasselled hat which still adorns the notepaper of Wolsey’s College at Oxford.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
We know when the first violets are blowing in the woods, and we paint for ourselves the tasselling of the alder and the red of maple-buds.
From Meadow Grass Tales of New England Life by Brown, Alice
Still at a gallop we left these behind and entered a broad lane between fields of tasselling corn, where we saw a gallant sight.
From The Cavalier by Cable, George Washington
Cynthia stood by the open window, where the sweet summer wind went by, laden with the fragrance of newly cut grasses and the silk of the corn that was just tasselling out.
From A Little Girl in Old Salem by Douglas, Amanda Minnie
Vines bending with enormous clusters of grapes festoon themselves from tree to tree, tasselling the topmost branches with fruit and tendrils.
From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science October, 1877. Vol XX - No. 118 by Various
The tall, tasselling corn now flows free in rippling, murmuring, ever widening silvery seas.
From Oldfield A Kentucky Tale of the Last Century by Banks, Nancy Huston
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
