teasel

or tea·zel, tea·zle

[tee-zuh l]

noun

any of several plants of the genus Dipsacus, having prickly leaves and flower heads.Compare teasel family.
the dried flower head or bur of the plant D. fullonum, used for teasing or teaseling cloth.
any mechanical contrivance used for teaseling.

verb (used with object), tea·seled, tea·sel·ing or (especially British) tea·selled, tea·sel·ling.

to raise a nap on (cloth) with teasels; dress by means of teasels.

Origin of teasel

before 1000; Middle English tesel, Old English tǣsel; akin to tease

Related formstea·sel·er; especially British, tea·sel·ler, nounun·tea·seled, adjectiveun·tea·selled, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for teasel

Historical Examples of teasel

All these Indians spin the thread, of which they make their nets, of a kind of teasel.
The Conquest of the River Plate (1535-1555)
Ulrich Schmidt
The teasel and sun and moon were emblematical of the chief staples of the place; the woollen trade and the mining interests.
A Book of the West. Volume I Devon
S. Baring-Gould
In fact, 'the seal of the Port-reeve bears a church between a teasel and a saltire, with the sun and moon above.'
Devon, Its Moorlands, Streams and Coasts
Rosalind Northcote
There were large rocks and tangled masses of brambles, and faded clumps of ragwort and teasel, and yellow bracken stumps.
For the School Colours
Angela Brazil
The teasel (Dipsacus) was abundant, as were also several of the true thistles.
The Girl's Own Paper, Vol. VIII, No. 355, October 16, 1886
Various

British Dictionary definitions for teasel

teasel

teazel or teazle

noun

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 DipsacaceaeSee also fuller's teasel
1. the prickly dried flower head of the fuller's teasel, used for teasing
2. any manufactured implement used for the same purpose

verb -sels, -selling or -selled or US -sels, -seling or -seled

(tr) to tease (a fabric)

Derived Formsteaseller, noun

Word Origin for teasel

Old English tǣsel; related to Old High German zeisala teasel, Norwegian tīsl undergrowth, tīsla to tear to bits; see tease

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

Word Origin and History for teasel

Old English tæsel "large thistle used in teasing cloth," from Proto-Germanic *taisilo (cf. Old High German zeisala), from root of Old English tæsan "to pluck" (see tease (v.)).