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 few tables away, Alexandra Derderian, a video editor wearing the same rainbow tassel earrings as her plush giraffe puppet, was chatting with Michael Esparza and his bright orange Muppet-like counterpart, Melvin.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 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
It made me think of the caps that Santa’s elves wear, the same shape and color, the same fuzzy white tassel at the tip.
From "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien
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
Henkel and Pitegoff’s only additions are a borrowed piano, a red carpet in the lobby and a few glittering tassels by the bar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2025
The show was described by many as dramatic - with dresses that more closely resembled lampshades, complete with delightful feathers, tassels and tulle.
From BBC ● Jan. 31, 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
Milton hurried along the platform, the tassels on his loafers bouncing, the tiny feather in his hat rippling in the cold wind.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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
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
The super soft accessory is finished with an embroidered Paul Smith signature, Artist Stripe label and tasseled ends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 1, 2022
The men stepped outside and lumbered back into the cart, driving toward a distant gate tasseled with barbed wire that lay at the end of the Sorting Arena.
From Slate ● Nov. 26, 2022
And her shoes pinch; she takes to wearing three pairs of socks and a pair of Etienne’s old tasseled loafers.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
There are reports were corn in southern Illinois is only 2 to 3 feet tall and tasseling, he said.
From Reuters ● Jun. 28, 2012
Barring disaster, his 42 acres of tall tasseling corn will be worth at least $2,500 in October.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some corn is tasseling weeks ahead of schedule, and an early harvest is in prospect.
From Time Magazine Archive
The harsh weather arrived just as the corn was entering its crucial tasseling stage and kernels were starting to form.
From Time Magazine Archive
The early grain fields have already caught the color of the sun, and the tasseling corn rustles its broad leaves above the rich loam that the woodcock delights to bore.
From In New England Fields and Woods by Robinson, Rowland E. (Evans)
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
Ellie Saab and Louis Vuitton's neon fringed and tasselled dresses and trousers also stood out, as models sashayed down the catwalk in their designs.
From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2025
Frocks were pleated, tasselled, sequined, off-the-shoulder or strapless.
From Reuters ● Sep. 8, 2021
The Undercover Boss: Players are always shocked at the end of the game to learn that their new teammate—a shrunken septuagenarian in tasselled loafers and an Afro wig—is actually their team’s billionaire owner!
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 16, 2019
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
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
The hot sun blazed fiercely down on his thinly clad back, and he noticed as he struggled through the tasselling corn that the leaves were already firing about the roots.
From The Wind Before the Dawn by Munger, Dell H.
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
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
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.
