cotton wool

noun

cotton wool

Also calledpurified cotton bleached and sterilized cotton from which the gross impurities, such as the seeds and waxy matter, have been removed: used for surgical dressings, tampons, etc Usual US termabsorbent cotton
cotton in the natural state
informal.
1. a state of pampered comfort and protection
2. ( as modifier )
  a cotton-wool existence

First recorded in 1590–1600

I put some cotton wool in my mouth and came up with a voice when I was on a train with my brother.

Then rub a little charcoal powder over the pricked pattern with a wad of soft cotton-wool.

But I would never leave you alone among the relics in their cotton-wool, little Great One.

Each egg appeared to be larger than a large hogs-head, and was partly embedded in bales of cotton-wool.

The planter's wife sat over against him, on the other side of the passage, carding home-grown cotton wool with hand cards.

The heavy clouds had nestled down the mountains, covering them like a huge thickness of wet cotton-wool.

April 18, 2024petrichor

[pet-ri-kawr]

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