wool

[ wool ]
See synonyms for wool on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. the fine, soft, curly hair that forms the fleece of sheep and certain other animals, characterized by minute, overlapping surface scales that give it its felting property.

  2. fabrics and garments of such wool.

  1. yarn made of such wool.

  2. any of various substances used commercially as substitutes for the wool of sheep or other animals.

  3. any of certain vegetable fibers, as cotton or flax, used as wool, especially after preparation by special process (vegetable wool ).

  4. any finely fibrous or filamentous matter suggestive of the wool of sheep: glass wool; steel wool.

  5. any coating of short, fine hairs or hairlike processes, as on a caterpillar or a plant; pubescence.

  6. Informal. the human hair, especially when short, thick, and crisp.

Idioms about wool

  1. all wool and a yard wide, genuine; excellent; sincere: He was a real friend, all wool and a yard wide.

  2. dyed in the wool, inveterate; confirmed: a dyed in the wool sinner.

  1. pull the wool over someone's eyes, to deceive or delude someone: The boy thought that by hiding the broken dish he could pull the wool over his mother's eyes.

Origin of wool

1
before 900; Middle English wolle,Old English wull(e), cognate with Dutch wol,German Wolle,Old Norse ull,Gothic wulla; akin to Latin lāna,Sanskrit ūrṇā,Welsh gwlân wool, Latin vellus fleece, Greek oúlos woolly

Other words from wool

  • woollike, adjective
  • non·wool, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for wool

wool

/ (wʊl) /


noun
  1. the outer coat of sheep, yaks, etc, which consists of short curly hairs

  2. yarn spun from the coat of sheep, etc, used in weaving, knitting, etc

    • cloth or a garment made from this yarn

    • (as modifier): a wool dress

  1. any of certain fibrous materials: glass wool; steel wool

  2. informal short thick curly hair

  3. a tangled mass of soft fine hairs that occurs in certain plants

  4. dyed in the wool confirmed in one's beliefs or opinions

  5. pull the wool over someone's eyes to deceive or delude someone

Origin of wool

1
Old English wull; related to Old Frisian, Middle Dutch wulle, Old High German wolla (German Wolle), Old Norse ull, Latin lāna and vellus fleece

Derived forms of wool

  • wool-like, adjective

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

Other Idioms and Phrases with wool

wool

see all wool and a yard wide; pull the wool over someone's eyes.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.