teasel
Americannoun
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any of several plants of the genus Dipsacus, having prickly leaves and flower heads.
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the dried flower head or bur of the plant D. fullonum, used for teasing or teaseling cloth.
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any mechanical contrivance used for teaseling.
verb (used with object)
noun
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any of various stout biennial plants of the genus Dipsacus, of Eurasia and N Africa, having prickly leaves and prickly heads of yellow or purple flowers: family Dipsacaceae See also fuller's teasel
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the prickly dried flower head of the fuller's teasel, used for teasing
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any manufactured implement used for the same purpose
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verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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teaselsimple
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teaselssimple
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have teaseledperfect
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have teaselledperfect
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has teaseledperfect
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has teaselledperfect
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am teaselingprogressive
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am teasellingprogressive
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are teaselingprogressive
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are teasellingprogressive
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is teaselingprogressive
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is teasellingprogressive
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have been teaselingperfect progressive
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have been teasellingperfect progressive
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has been teaselingperfect progressive
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has been teasellingperfect progressive
Past
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teaseledsimple
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teaselledsimple
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had teaseledperfect
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had teaselledperfect
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was teaselingprogressive
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was teasellingprogressive
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were teaselingprogressive
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were teasellingprogressive
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had been teaselingperfect progressive
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had been teasellingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of teasel
before 1000; Middle English tesel, Old English tǣsel; akin to tease
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:
Behind the bar, they swagged a second garland made from teasel and sweet gum and poppy seed pods.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
Elsewhere, they created big, unwieldy bunches of teasel, asparagus and white pine cut from their garden in Montauk, adding locally harvested flowers and branches from the floral design studio Field Studies Flora.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
They are targeting Johnson grass, giant foxtail, Canada thistle, nodding thistle, common teasel, multiflora rose, Amur honeysuckle, poison hemlock, marestail, Japanese knotweed and kudzu.
From Washington Times ● Mar. 18, 2021
They like to sit there and watch the wind blowing through the pale purple teasel, alone but for the murder of crows that guard their property.
From New York Times ● Sep. 16, 2019
The eve comes on: the teasel stoops Its spike-crowned head before the blast; The tattered leaves drive whirling past Like skeletons in whistling troops.
From Blooms of the Berry by Cawein, Madison J.
The U.S. could discuss concessions on as many as 3,500 different items, including abaca, Bibles, goat meat, curling stones, unbleached teasels and zinc dust.
From Time Magazine Archive
More than once I have had occasion to deal with the phenomenon of torsions, as exhibited by the teasels and some other plants.
From Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation by Vries, Hugo de
In place of the steel wire brushes it is the usual practice to employ teasels for the treatment of woollen goods.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 3 "Fenton, Edward" to "Finistere" by Various
A twisted race of teasels might consist of successive generations of tall atavistic individuals, and produce yearly some twisted specimens, which might be destroyed every time before ripening their seeds.
From Species and Varieties, Their Origin by Mutation by Vries, Hugo de
Like many another in the ringing city, to use Rabelais' epithet, will it become a home for the fuller's teasels, a warehouse for scrap iron, a carrier's stable?
From The Life of the fly; with which are interspersed some chapters of autobiography by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander
Beethoven's Egmont Overture, about as nearly threadbare as a Beethoven work can be, had its nap teaseled attractively.
From Time Magazine Archive
As a great many fabrics are more or less teaseled, there is a possibility of such pieces becoming too woolly and too hairy.
From Textiles For Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools; Also Adapted to Those Engaged in Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods, Wool, Cotton, and Dressmaker's Trades by Dooley, William H. (William Henry)
Overcoatings.—Overcoatings are heavy woolen or worsted fabrics and heavily teaseled or gigged, giving a rough, hairy appearance.
From Textiles For Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools; Also Adapted to Those Engaged in Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods, Wool, Cotton, and Dressmaker's Trades by Dooley, William H. (William Henry)
In the teaseling process it is necessary for the nap to be raised only slightly, and this is commonly done in the direction of the grain or twist of the warp.
From Textiles For Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools; Also Adapted to Those Engaged in Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods, Wool, Cotton, and Dressmaker's Trades by Dooley, William H. (William Henry)
Flannels are subjected to several finishing operations, such as fulling, teaseling, pressing, and stretching.
From Textiles For Commercial, Industrial, and Domestic Arts Schools; Also Adapted to Those Engaged in Wholesale and Retail Dry Goods, Wool, Cotton, and Dressmaker's Trades by Dooley, William H. (William Henry)
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.
