a soft, white, downy substance consisting of the hairs or fibers attached to the seeds of plants belonging to the genus Gossypium, of the mallow family, used in making fabrics, thread, wadding, etc.
2.
the plant itself, having spreading branches and broad, lobed leaves.
3.
such plants collectively as a cultivated crop.
4.
cloth, thread, a garment, etc., of cotton.
5.
any soft, downy substance resembling cotton, but growing on other plants.
–verb (used without object)
6.
Informal. to get on well together; agree.
7.
Obsolete. to prosper or succeed.
—Verb phrase
8.
cotton to or on to, Informal.
a.
to become fond of; begin to like.
b.
to approve of; agree with: to cotton to a suggestion.
c.
to come to a full understanding of; grasp: More and more firms are cottoning on to the advantages of using computers.
[Origin: 1250–1300; ME coton < OF < OIt cotone < Ar qutun, var. of qutn]
Any of various shrubby plants of the genus Gossypium, having showy flowers and grown for the soft white downy fibers surrounding oil-rich seeds.
The fiber of any of these plants, used in making textiles and other products.
Thread or cloth manufactured from the fiber of these plants.
The crop of these plants.
Any of various soft downy substances produced by other plants, as on the seeds of a cottonwood.
intr.v.
cot·toned, cot·ton·ing, cot·tonsInformal
To take a liking; attempt to be friendly: a dog that didn't cotton to strangers; an administration that will cotton up to the most repressive of regimes.
To come to understand. Often used with to or onto:"The German bosses . . . never cottoned to such changes"(N.R. Kleinfield).
[Middle English cotoun, from Old French coton, from Old Italian cotone, from Arabic quṭn, quṭun; see qṭn in Semitic roots.]
Cot·tonAudio Help (kŏt'n) Pronunciation Key
English-born American cleric who was vicar of Saint Botolph's Church in England until he was summoned to court for his Puritanism. He fled to Boston, Massachusetts, where he became a civil and religious leader.
1286, from O.Fr. coton, ult. (via Prov., It., or O.Sp.) from Ar. qutn, perhaps of Egyptian origin. Philip Miller of the Chelsea Physic Garden sent the first cotton seeds to American colony of Georgia in 1732. Cotton-picking was first recorded in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but the noun meaning "contemptible person" dates to around 1919, probably with racist overtones that have faded over the years. The Cottonian library in the British Museum is from Sir Robert Bruce Cotton (1570-1631).
"to get on with" (usually with to), 1567, perhaps from Welsh cytuno "consent, agree." But perhaps also a metaphor from cloth finishing and thus from cotton (n.).
Cotton Plant, AR (city, FIPS 15550) Location: 35.00694 N, 91.25147 W Population (1990): 1150 (559 housing units) Area: 2.7 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 72036
Cotton Valley, LA (town, FIPS 17915) Location: 32.81272 N, 93.42300 W Population (1990): 1130 (517 housing units) Area: 6.8 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water) Zip code(s): 71018
Cotton County, OK (county, FIPS 33) Location: 34.28483 N, 98.37390 W Population (1990): 6651 (3152 housing units) Area: 1649.0 sq km (land), 13.7 sq km (water)
Poplar-Cotton Center, CA (CDP, FIPS 58191) Location: 36.05674 N, 119.14642 W Population (1990): 1901 (495 housing units) Area: 3.0 sq km (land), 0.0 sq km (water)
Ac"ton\, n. [OF. aketon, auqueton, F. hoqueton, a quilted jacket, fr. Sp. alcoton, algodon, cotton. Cf. Cotton.] A stuffed jacket worn under the mail, or (later) a jacket plated with mail. [Spelled also hacqueton.] [Obs.] --Halliwell. Sir W. Scott.
Ar"my worm`\ (Zo["o]l.) (a) A lepidopterous insect, which in the larval state often travels in great multitudes from field to field, destroying grass, grain, and other crops. The common army worm of the northern United States is Leucania unipuncta. The name is often applied to other related species, as the cotton worm. (b) The larva of a small two-winged fly (Sciara), which marches in large companies, in regular order. See Cotton worm, under Cotton.
![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [kot-n] Pronunciation Key 
