Nearby Words
noun
1.
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.
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Cottoned
is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
| a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question. |
| a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison. |
8.
cotton (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; Middle English coton < Old French < Old Italian cotone < Arabic qutun, variant of qutn
1250–1300; Middle English coton < Old French < Old Italian cotone < Arabic qutun, variant of qutn
Related forms
half-cot·ton, adjective
sem·i·cot·ton, noun
un·cot·toned, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source
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Link To cottoned
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
cotton
"to get on with" someone (usually with to), 1560s, perhaps from Welsh cytuno "consent, agree." But perhaps also a metaphor from cloth finishing and thus from cotton (n.).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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