silk-cotton tree

American  

[silk-kot-n] / ˈsɪlkˌkɒt n /

noun

1. any of several spiny trees belonging to the genus Ceiba, of the bombax family, having palmately compound leaves and seeds surrounded by silk cotton, especially C. pentandra, from which kapok is obtained.

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silk-cotton tree British  

noun

1. Also called: kapok tree.  any of several tropical bombacaceous trees of the genus Ceiba, esp Ceiba pentandra, having seeds covered with silky hairs from which kapok is obtained

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Etymology

Origin of silk-cotton tree

First recorded in 1705–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

silk-cotton tree

The filling is kapok, a soft fiber that comes from a silk-cotton tree.

From Time Magazine Archive

I was much surprised to notice the rapidity with which the silk-cotton tree burst into leaf.

From Cuba Past and Present by Davey, Richard

They feed on the nectar provided by these flowers and those of the silk-cotton tree.

From A Bird Calendar for Northern India by Dewar, Douglas

Kapok, ka-pok′, n. a cottony or silky fibre covering the seeds of a species of silk-cotton tree, used for stuffing pillows, &c.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

That afternoon, we had a meeting up in the silk-cotton tree, and Priscilla, who had sold out her small stock of flowers in the hotel-door market, was requested to be present.

From A Jolly Fellowship by Stockton, Frank Richard